Written in Stone
by Linnay
Summary: SLASH. AU. POV/3RD PERSPECTIVE. In the highlands of northern Scotland arrives an archeological expedition led by Wufei Chang in search of traces of a Germanic people supposedly long lost in time and history.
1. The Discovery

**Disclaimers: **I do not own either Harry Potter or Gundam Wing; they both belong to their respective owners, J. K. Rowling and Sunrise.

**Summary: **In the highlands of Scotland arrives an archeological expedition led by Wufei Chang in search of traces of a Germanic people supposedly long lost in time and history.

**Pairing: **Harry+Wufei+Harry (very mild at first, this must be _the_ tamest pairing fic I've done…at least "action" wise. ;P )

**Warnings: SLASH. OOC(ness?), not-so-accurate-and-playing-around-with-history, **switches between **Harry POV/third person perspective. AU** for HP after book seven and excludes the epilogue, and for GW **AU **after the whole series and the Endless Waltz OVA.

**Author's note: **This story was inspired from a thought I had of 'what if Harry was a ghost?' That was the initial thought and the starting point for this whole story. I had expected for it to be a regular oneshot, but it ended up SO much longer than I had first anticipated (like whole 25,000+ words longer…). Therefore, I split the whole thing into four separate chapters where I found it suitable,(this means the chapters will be of different lengths mind you) and which I will be posting one at a time each day from now until the whole story is up. I will be posting the following three chapters in the evenings (local time, Sweden is +1 Greenwich time) because of my work schedule.

This story has taken me _months_ to write, revise and finish. I bumped into writer's block somewhere along the way and only through sheer stubbornness can I happily present it to you now. I put down a _lot_ of hard work into this one and it's become one of my favorites just because of that single fact.

So it gives me immense pleasure to present to you, the first chapter of…

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Written in Stone

* * *

_'A stone is ingrained with geological and historical memories.'_

- Andy Goldsworthy

* * *

The location had been what used to be called northern Scotland; more precisely a location in the old Scottish highlands nestled in-between a circle of dense forests and in its middle structures where the noticeable ruins of a fortress or a castle had once stood. It was in the middle of November; the chill winter airs hung still and dry in the early morning, the sun sending dim lights through the foggy heat that rose from the yet still warmer earth.

The quiet atmosphere, however, was interrupted by a low humming as a helicopter broke free of the tree line, the rising morning sun lighting up its silhouette. It passed once over the ruins before returning to circle over the site before gently easing down on an even patch of ground to the off side.

The first one to step outside of the still thrumming helicopter was a young man, dressed in black thermo pants and a red winter jacket. The frosted grass crunched under his feet as he bent and jogged away from underneath the spinning propellers. On his shoulders hung a backpack that he removed to rummage around in as soon he arrived at a safe distance from the whirring blades.

Another, though taller, young man followed the other out of the helicopter and came to stand beside the other as the first one fished out a fancy system camera, wasting no time with taking a rapid series of pictures of the discernible and impressive ruins.

"You seem awfully eager Chang." The taller companion commented with a hint of amusement, expression calm and one green eye hidden beneath a fall of auburn hair leaving one still visible.

The shorter of the two, Chang, snorted lightly while signaling to the pilot of the chopper, watching it raise into the air, before starting the trek towards the collection of stone structures, the taller following in his steps.

"I would assume that it would be more than clear as to why, Barton." Chang responded and snapped off another picture of a fallen pillar on the ground, moving over to a stoned walkway.

"Yet I still find myself mildly surprised at the prospect." Barton replied, his breaths coming out in steamy puffs.

"Oh?" Chang sent the other man a short glance in-between snapping pictures.

"Why, yes, of all the archeological digs and sites we've been to so far, which are many, you have never expressed such eagerness like this." Barton paused to take in a still standing pillar, letting his gloved hand trace the furrows created by time and nature. "So I wonder," He continued after a while, "what makes this site differ so from the rest?" Barton eyed the man with a curious glance.

Chang hummed, snapping one more picture before slowly lowering the camera.

"I believe, that this could be 'it'." His calm voice belied his hidden anticipation.

His companion stilled lightly, not missing the stress on the last word.

"'_It_?'" He repeated. "Are you sure?" There was a trace of excitement laced in his voice.

Chang's answer was a small tug at the corner of his mouth, only hinting at a smile.

"I cannot be completely sure." He said reasonably.

"But you believe it is?" Barton insisted.

"Yes. I believe it is." Chang agreed, mouth curved.

They wandered through the ruins mostly in silence, only speaking up to ask the other about something or to comment about something else. They weaved through the skeleton of stone, working their way closer to the heart of the ruins where the structure seemed to be the most preserved. The ruins had to be, from Chang's own hasty calculations, at least three or four hundred years old. Certainly not as old as the ancient ruins from much older cultures and civilizations around the Mediterranean Sea, and one would think that those would hold more interest to someone like Chang; a young archeologist and historian with a penchant for the old philosophies of long lost civilizations. But the man had another, less well known interest. For years back now, he had secretly been searching for traces and clues of an old Germanic script with unknown origins. The first and only finding of this script had been made by his very own grandfather. Wufei Chang as a child had been fascinated with the old man's stories about the different travelling tribes of Germanic people during the old dark ages, how certain texts had told about a group of people with strange abilities that went against the law of nature herself.

As a young and impressionable child, Chang had taken to these stories like a sponge and sucked up everything he could get his tiny hands on. It was his grandfather who taught him the values of being a scholar, a historian with integrity and pride in his profession. Taught him the justice in bringing forth the old forgotten histories that had been told by the minorities. Most of the known history always had, after all, been written by the victors and not the defeated. His goal was to seek out those forgotten testimonies, those forgotten life destinies that had fallen prey for the mightier side.

If only his grandfather and clan had not been lost in the colony wars…

Chang roused himself from his memories, focusing on the now and doing a thorough search of these ruins. The few leads he'd found had led him here, to a seemingly forgotten place in these northern parts of the highlands. His grandfather's texts and most of his theories had been lost with the destruction of the L5 colony cluster. But some of the texts lived on with Chang, carefully archived and guarded within his own mind. Not until after Operation Meteor and the New Year's wars, when a time of relative peace had settled over the world did Chang take time to write down what he had stored away in his mind.

During those days he had felt his interest and nostalgic childish fascination returning to him. It had driven him to acquire a degree in history, with focus on the old dark ages, and one in archeology. Many months and years later he found himself being hired by the Preventers and Lady Une herself to work as a historical researcher in her newly founded science department. Although his focus was to be around the years of pre- and after-colony history; a project that had as its many goals to seek out the real 'truth' about the origins of the colony wars and the conflicts before the new era of after colony, Chang had been obliged, through sheer persuasion on his part, to spend a third of his time on areas of personal interest. It had been one of his demands if he were to accept the position. With this came also a certain amount of funds (provided that they were approved by Lady Une of course) that he could use for his many trips to different excavation sites and other locations that piqued his interest.

Like the one he found himself at now, and with the frequently volunteered assistance of an old friend from the wars. Trowa Barton seemed to share an interest with Chang about the old history.

The site had been better preserved than what Chang had initially thought. The lead that had led him here he had found in western Eurasia during a dig there. A small piece of stone with pieces of near intelligible writing had caught his interest where it laid on one of the tables where they'd put the findings waiting to be described and catalogued. He had almost instantly recognized the writing as to the same letters he had once seen in his grandfather's papers. The distinctive curve of the loops and connecting lines bore too much of a similarity than to be a mere coincidence. He was surprised no one else had paid it much attention, someone, at least, should have noticed that the curves and loops should have been impossible to make without modern machinery.

He had immediately asked to be allowed to study it, claiming he had come across these writings before and since no one else had expressed an interest in the small piece, he had been able to bring it back with him to his office and examination room at Preventers headquarters. He had studied it almost religiously and had earned more than one bewildered and thoughtful look from his colleagues and fellow agents that visited occasionally in-between missions and assignments. These agents were his old comrades and fellow Gundam pilots that had come to work at different departments within the Preventers.

After tiresomely deciphering some of the script on the stone, with the help of his own memory and his own copies of his grandfather's texts, Chang had managed to extract the name of a geographical location that the text spoke of. Lady Une had, after many long sessions of tries at persuasions, finally (caved) authorized the trip and the funds Chang was asking for. Barton had come along as a volunteer, like he'd done many times before when he had the time to do so, since no one else at the science department felt inclined to go on this, what they called it, a wild goose chase.

So here they were, in the highlands of Scotland, not quite sure what they were looking for but Chang was certain that he would know what that was if he did find it. He was so sure that what he had gleaned from the script on the small piece of stone that this was the place the text had spoken about. That this place held a piece of the puzzle he was trying to put together, the question only was how big a piece that was.

A couple of hours into their stay, the sun already high in the sky, Chang were tracing a stoned pathway where the roof was still partly intact. He could feel his excitement growing, prickling his skin underneath his clothes, as he noticed the pathway start to tilt down.

"Barton!"

He called once for his companion, knowing the other would catch up with him and continued his descent into a small shaft. As the ground leveled out he could hear the echo of his footsteps bounce against the walls. It was dark down here, the only light coming from the few rays, lighting up the entrance, which managed to find their ways down through the small pathway.

A flashlight from his backpack solved the issue and lighted his way. He gasped softly as his eyes swept over the stone walls, amazed at how well-kept they appeared to be. When his gaze landed on the center of the room, he could barely reign in his excitement when he spotted the now familiar curves and lines littering a massive rectangular block of stone. At first he thought it could have been a tomb of some sorts, but then realized that while the stone looked reminiscent of a lid to a tomb, it was far too small for a regular sized human. Although it didn't rule out the possibility that it could belong to a child…

Chang put down the flashlight so that it still gave him light over the stone block. He took a few pictures with the camera, the flashes lighting the room like during a thunderstorm.

He had already taken out a notepad and pen, leaning over the lid to make out the letters to write them down if the pictures didn't come out right when he heard Barton's steps behind him.

Barton came up beside him and let out a low whistle, familiar enough with Chang's 'side work' to recognize the style of the script.

"Amazing." The taller breathed out.

"Isn't it?" Chang replied, still taking notes and copying the script down onto his pad with almost hurried movements, like he was afraid that the letters would fade away like dust in any moment.

Barton stepped around the stone lid, taking it in from all the sides and the thin one-piece chiseled pillars that stood off the corners.

"Is it a tomb?" He asked thoughtfully.

Chang shook his head in the negative.

"I don't believe so. It could be, but I've never seen a Germanic tomb shaped like this. It looks more of that of a monument of some sort, though I can't be sure of that either…" He trailed off, his focus going back to his handiwork.

Barton rounded one of the corners, frowning suddenly, and crouched down to inspect it closer.

"Chang." He called. "You sure it's not a tomb? Since there seems to be a hollow cavity underneath this..."

Chang's obsidian eyes looked up from his work, depositing the notepad on his backpack before going over to where Barton was crouching. He bent down and tilted his head slightly sideways and that's when he saw it. A small crack in-between the stone lid and the ground that allowed the two take a peek inside of what appeared to, indeed, be some sort of hollow space.

Driven by years of bottled curiosity and exhilaration of finally finding a clue to what he was searching for; Chang made a quick decision.

"Help me try to move this." He said to Barton.

Barton only nodded in response.

The two hefted their hands on the stone lid and then pushed carefully. It was heavy, really heavy actually, and for a moment Chang thought that they would have to give up when lid jerked, and then began to slowly slide open. The scratching noise sounded in their ears and for one morbid moment Chang almost expected the corpse of a child to be staring up at him, but what met his sight was not a corpse.

No, it was an oval shaped stone tablet that lay on a bed of sand.

Chang and Barton stared at the tablet, before Chang (not able to hold himself back) bent down and gently eased his fingers underneath the tablet. The sand slipped between his fingers as he lifted it, surprisingly light, and righted it so he could take a closer look. He noticed Barton leaning in curiously, their heads nearly bumping together.

The tablet was amazingly well preserved, and what was even more astonishing was the letters that seemed as clear as the day they had been imprinted on the stone. The script shone with a color of deep red, almost the color of blood Chang noted to himself.

"That's strange…" He murmured.

"What is?" Barton asked from beside him.

Chang stood up, mindful of not dropping his precious cargo.

"While the letters on the lid has faded with time, naturally, these on the tablet seem to almost have been written only yesterday..." He shook his head. "But that can't be."

He traced his fingers against the rounded rim of the stone.

"The stone has no chips or damage that I can see. It's in such good condition it's almost too good to be true. Like someone planted it here just recently."

Barton raised an eyebrow.

"It doesn't look someone's been here recently." He observed, casting his eyes around the room.

"And it shouldn't, this area is protected under law as a natural habitat. Usually people aren't even allowed to enter it but I had Une pull some strings for me." Chang commented, showing no reservation to his own admittance.

"Of course." Barton said with a small quirk of his mouth.

Chang leveled a minor annoyed look at his companion.

"Anyway, I would like to bring this back with me." He said and went back over to his backpack to put it back on.

"What about the lid?"

Chang thought about it, considering his options.

"We would have to come back for it later." He reasoned.

"I thought so."Barton replied, bending down to take the discarded flashlight and writing equipment since Chang was now holding the tablet with both his hands and seemed very determined to not let it go anytime soon.

The two started their trek back to the chopper, Chang turning around to cast one last glance at the room as it slowly sank back into darkness. As he walked up the pathway, a small tingling sensation thrummed in his fingers for less than a half second. But the briefness of it had him discarding it as a response to the cold.

* * *

Out of the dark I felt my body jerk suddenly with some kind of movement.

A strange sensation settled itself in the pit of my stomach and I could not understand what it was. This had never happened before.

I've been in this place for so long now, whatever this place is. I'm fairly sure that I'm dead, must be, but then I'm still uncertain. If I was truly dead, then wouldn't I be with my parents and family? This darkness, this void, I have no idea where it is. Though, I have faint memories of the final battle, of my struggle with Voldemort. I knew I'd won, somehow, but what happened after that, it was all clouded and unclear. No matter how I tried to remember I could not make the haze that covered my memories go away.

It was utterly frustrating.

A gentle swinging movement catches me off guard and my awareness stumbles back into the dark.

My thoughts slip away, and it almost feels like I'm going back to sleep…

* * *

Chang looks up from his seat, watching as Barton enters the room, and then goes back to his examination of the stone tablet. It lies on a table within a sea of papers and various handwritten notes. Chang has spent most part of the last month working on figuring out the message written on the tablet. He is loath to admit that he hasn't had much progress so far and in real need of a break in the deciphering process. There is simply too many letters and signs that are new to him, not to mention the ones that were found on the lid and especially the more intricate ones on the tablet itself.

"They say the stone lid will be here within the next few days." Barton tells him to which Chang gives a nod. "How are you faring?" He continues.

Chang gives a deep sigh, leaning back in his chair and raising one hand to remove his glasses while another massages the bridge of his nose.

"Not that good. Une has been on my case about neglecting my other work."

Barton sends him a sympathetic look.

"I'd offer my help, but I have no real expertise in this area outside of plain interest."

Chang gives Barton a nod of appreciation for the thought alone.

His errand done, and having his own work to think about, Barton leaves Chang to his work again with a few choice words of encouragement and that he will come by again in the morning next day.

As the door slides closed, Chang sighs again and bends his head back to stare into the plain white ceiling. He blinks twice before swinging back up and his dark eyes lands on the stone. He stares at it and then scoots his desk chair closer with his fronts of his soles, laying his arms on either side of the stone and fixing it with his hard gaze.

The tablet lays on the table, its script as deeply red as usual and the color almost glistening in the artificial light. As if the color had not yet dried.

Chang raises his hand, reaching out to trace his one finger along the lines and curves. Silently to himself, he reads out what he can make out of the script, pausing once, and eyebrows frowning, as he reads out one particular sign.

'…_Soul.'_

Obsidian eyes grow large and blinks several times as the text seems to almost glow with an inner light…

…and that's when it happens.

* * *

Something is trying to rouse me from my sleep, I can sense it grabbing a hold of my body and pulling me out, out of this empty void of darkness that has kept me company for I don't know how long.

I think I blinked my eyes, because all of a sudden I am no longer staring into darkness but rather into pure light. I have to shield my eyes from the sudden brightness, my hand bumping against my glasses, and it takes an awful while for my eyes to adjust. When they finally do, I slowly lower my arm and take in the room I'm standing in. I look around, almost expecting to see the infirmary at Hogwarts. Instead I see rows of shelves with books in them, a desk to the right with piles of papers lying on it. I don't recognize the room, and I'm quite sure that I've never been here before. What has me wondering is why I am not still at Hogwarts?

As my gaze passes over to my right; I come eye to eye with one of the darkest eyes I've ever seen. I peer curiously at them, taking in the person before me. It's an older man, must have been in his twenties or something, and Asian, perhaps Chinese. His slanted eyes remind me fleetingly of Cho and I frown lightly at the memory image, shaking the thought out of my head. I don't recognize this man. Not a professor, for sure, but perhaps a member of the order? It's not like I've met them all.

A quick intake of breath has me turning my attention back on the man from where my eyes had gone to take in the rest of the room. His eyes are wide, almost impossibly so, and he seems to be staring intently at me, like I'm some sort of ghost or something. Rude yes, the look disturbs me though, has me thinking that he must have recognized who I am and I feel myself growing worried. Here I am, in a place I have no idea where is, and then there is this guy staring me down. For all I know he could be affiliated with the surviving Death Eaters. I really need to gain some control over this whole situation while I still have the chance of surprise.

Having decided on a course of action, I reach my hands towards my pockets for my wand. I'll try and apparate back to Hogwarts. Hermione, Ron and the rest ought to be there. But when my hand fumbles and I look down I notice the first sign that something must be terribly wrong. That something must have been done to me while I was out cold. I should have known that something would be amiss after being stuck in that dark abyss…

First of all, there's the surface of a table jutting out where my waist should have been. I stare down, eyes wide as saucers as I raise my hand up and down through what ought to have been a very solid table, yet still my arms passes straight through it like it was made of pure air. Somehow my body has become intangible. Something must have gone wrong. Had I been attacked without noticing it?

Swallowing reflexively, I take a few quick steps, feeling (understandably so) highly uncomfortable with a bloody table separating my higher and lower half of my body. Relief fills me when I'm able to get free of the table without much trouble. I don't know what I should've done if I was actually stuck in it. Getting stuck in that false step on the moving staircases was troublesome enough.

"Wha-what are you?"

I look back at the man who is still staring at me apparently. I frown, he looks almost scared of me now. Then I take notice of what he actually said, dimly wondering about his strange accent.

"What do you mean 'what'?" I ask annoyed, going back to try and find my wand. I know some people have rather extreme reactions when they recognize me as of late, with all the 'defeater of Voldemort' stuff probably going around like crazy, but that was really rude. "It's not like I'm a ghost or anything." I huff indignantly.

My finger touches a slim piece of wood and my eyes light up as they finally land on the holly wand I fish out of my jean pocket. At last I can go back to Hogwarts and back to my friends. Away from whatever this place is anyway. I'll ask the others later if they have any clue since I'm not planning on staying long enough to ask.

I raise my hand and wand, preparing myself for the uncomfortable sensations of apparition. I never liked it much. However there's a touch of worry that grasps hold of me as nothing happens, even though I've apparated a number of times before, (Hermione had both me and Ron practicing it during our horcrux mission almost until we dropped)and enough to make me at least decent at it. I try it again, raising my wand but still nothing happens.

My eyes sweep across the room, landing on the different equipment littering it and I find myself astonished at all the advanced looking electronics. I know I live most of the year at Hogwarts, but I still went home (if reluctantly) to my relatives house in the summer. Dudley's newest computer had not been nearly as sleek or, for lack of a better word, futuristic looking.

I feel apprehension set in the pit of my stomach when my earlier words start to register in my brain, the fact that I'd been standing in the middle of a table, the fact that I've been unable to use my wand.

'It's not like I'm a ghost.'

No, no, that can't be it, I tell myself, ignoring the still gawking man for my inner turmoil. I go back to the table and raise my hand experimentally. I hesitate for a moment, before lowering my hand and seeing it pass straight through the table.

"No…" I say, my voice trembling slightly, shaking my head in denial. This must be some kind of spell; even if I've never actually heard of one that was capable of doing this do a person. But then I'm sure there's a ton of spells and charms I've never heard of before.

I turn around hastily, walking over to one of the bookshelves and reach for one of the books. I receive the same result. My hand passes right through the binding. I can't even _feel_ my hand going through it. Maybe there was something wrong with my eyes? A hallucination? A dream? I wrack my brain for explanations but it all, ironically, feels awfully real to me. I touch my own arm, somewhat relived I can feel it but it's a short respite when realization finally crashes down on me.

"No…" I say again with force. "It can't be. I'm not a ghost. I'm not dead."

A snort has me turning around to face the man again. He watches me with still mildly wide eyes but he seems to have regained some measure of composure.

"I don't know what are you are, and I don't care." He says with a reasonably calm yet harsh voice. "Now, get out of my office."

I frown at him, my mind still swirling and feeling lost with the whole situation.

I try to calm myself down. I need to think logically here, even if it isn't my strongest point. What would Hermione do? There must be a ward put up preventing apparition, and then someone must have cast a strange spell at me that turned my body into the way it is now as well as dumping me in the home of a muggle. So, I just have to go out and walk a long enough distance so that I'll get outside the wards.

I start for the door, only to slam straight into an invisible wall after taking only a few steps. I whirl around, hand grasping my bruised nose, my wand raised towards the man who now frowns at me.

"What did you do to me?" I ask angrily, feeling frustration, confusion and fear lacing together and directing it on the only other person in the room. Perhaps this man wasn't as much of a muggle as he first appeared to be.

"I haven't done anything." He retorts and I watch his arm stray behind his back.

Expecting to see him pull out a wand, I am even more confused when he whips out and points something entirely different at me. I have a problem placing the object for a moment before one of the movies that my cousin Dudley used to watch pops into my head.

A gun. He's holding and pointing a gun at me. Why would a wizard even have a gun…

"You really are a muggle?" I ask dumbfounded, the whole situation making less sense by the minute and I'm running dangerously low on plausible explanations at the rate I'm going through them.

The confused look I receive is answer enough. I feel myself more confused by the minute. What in Merlin's name was a muggle doing here? Since he couldn't have done this to me, there must be another wizard or witch around here somewhere. Was someone playing a cruel joke on me and decided to put in this muggle for some added fun?

"What the hell did you call me?" The muggle, man, seemed to have taken my words as an insult.

I shake my head, lowering my wand slightly.

"What the bloody hell is going on here?" I ask no one in particular, crying out my building frustration and worry.

"That's what you're going to tell me. Again, what the fuck are you doing in my office and how the hell did you get in?"

The man takes a few quick steps towards me and I end up staring down the barrel of the gun, wondering how in Merlin's name I managed to get myself into this mess. Why hadn't anyone gotten here yet? Surely they must've known that something had happened to me by now. Something was definitely very wrong here. It couldn't be? Could it really?

I raise my eyes at the man again. I was afraid to find out if it was true. What if it was? What was I going to do then? Steeling myself, I lower my wand and make a move towards him.

Before I can open my mouth the gun goes off.

It passes right trough me, not as in ripping through flesh but as in actually going right through me as if my body wasn't real, as if I really was a-.

"A ghost." I whisper.

* * *

**AN: **That was the first chapter of four. The remaining three will be posted every evening around 6pm-10pm (Swedish local time, 1+ Greenwich). Until next time, Lin.


	2. The Soul

**Disclaimers: **I do not own either Harry Potter or Gundam Wing; they both belong to their respective owners, J. K. Rowling and Sunrise.

**Summary: **In the highlands of Scotland arrives an archeological expedition led by Wufei Chang in search of traces of a Germanic people supposedly long lost in time and history.

**Pairing: **Harry+Wufei+Harry (mild)

**Warnings: SLASH. OOC(ness?), not-so-accurate-and-playing-around-with-history, **switches between **Harry POV/third person perspective. AU** for HP after book seven and excluding the epilogue, and for GW after the whole series and the Endless Waltz OVA.

**Author's Notes: **Thanks for the comments, favs and subscriptions guys~! Here is the contintuation and second chapter of four as promised. (Posting a lil' earlier 'cause I didn't have to stay at work as long as I thought. ;) ) This chapter is a bit longer than the first one. I hope you like it~

* * *

Written in Stone

* * *

_'A stone is ingrained with geological and historical memories.'_

- Andy Goldsworthy

* * *

That didn't just happen.

Chang stands there, watching the thin trail of smoke rising from the barrel of his gun. Then he looks at the bespectacled, raven haired teenager that had appeared out of thin air just moments earlier. Who is completely unharmed, by the way, even though Chang is sure he had aimed and shot at the boy's right leg. He didn't actually want to kill him after all, just incapacitate him as the intruder the boy was. Someone had to have sent the boy, not just anyone got into the Preventers undetected (the headquarters, no less, and late in the afternoon when most of the employees would have already gone home). Still, he shouldn't even have _fired_ his weapon in the first place, let alone without a fair warning. Why was his heart thumping wildly in his chest? Could it be he was actually a bit…scared?

It couldn't be. He refuses to believe what he has seen the teenager do, or rather was unable to do. Because that was ridiculous, there was no way the boy could actually be a…you know…

"A ghost." Chang whispers incredulously repeating the boy's own words, shaking his head.

The teenager looks up at him, displaying radiant green eyes. He stares at Chang and he can see fear growing in the boy's eyes.

"I'm…a ghost? For real? I'm dead?" The boy whispers back, his voice thin and almost hollow.

Chang almost feels sorry for the boy, or ghost, whatever he, or it, is. But he has no further chance to dwell on his thoughts as his door come crashing down with Barton and Yuy standing in the doorway with both their guns drawn and directed at the unknown boy the moment their eyes zeroes in on him.

Chang stares at them in confusion before his brain jumpstarts. Of course, Barton had just left and Yuy probably must have been near and heard the gunshot as well.

The boy whirls around to face Barton and Yuy, his scared and insecure eyes flicks to and fro between the two and Chang. He watches as the boy grasps the stick of wood in his hand almost desperately, like seeking some kind of comfort from it. Chang has a niggling thought that he somehow ought to know the significance of that stick, but isn't able to place it in the right context.

The teenager's earlier words echoes in his head and then something clicks in his brain. He lowers his gun to his side, instinctively knowing that it won't do him any good anyway, rushing over to where the stone tablet still lies innocently on the table. His eyes land on the script and he starts from the top, his eyes sweeping over the letters and signs. The text is still mostly a mystery to him but there is two or three words that has him halting. They could have had other meanings, he was sort of sure of that, but their possible meanings suddenly had his heart thudding wildly again.

'_Soul sealed in stone.'_

Memories from a childhood long passed comes back to him, as he remembers his grandfather telling him fairy stories of people able to defy nature, people capable of so many things, but most of all, always wielding a staff…or maybe a wand. And there it is all of a sudden, the right context.

He turns back slowly to stare at the boy, his eyes traveling down to the tightly gripped stick of wood.

"A wand." He breathes utterly astonished.

* * *

Someone tell me what the bloody hell is going on. I was shot, I'm sure I was, yet I'm not hurt, not even bleeding. I'm struggling to understand the complications of it all. Then there's the two other men, holding two more guns and pointing them steadily at me. I barely notice the first man move, more than preoccupied with the two new guys and all the while wondering _what the bloody hell_ I was going to do now.

"A wand."

I whirl around, causing the other two to take a few steps closer.

"Don't move." The blue eyed one of them says, and I jerk involuntarily at the cold tone in his voice.

"It's a wand, isn't it?" The first man, with the black hair and dark eyes asks me without preamble, looking at me strangely and earning himself equally strange looks from the other two.

I don't know how, but somehow this muggle knows about wizards, or maybe he's just seen a few too many movies. Probably the latter.

I swallow reflexively, wondering what more trouble I could get myself into (it was looking pretty bad at this point), and if it even matters now since it seems I was already, I frown, already dead. I shiver at the cold tingle in my stomach.

"Yes." I look carefully at the man, his eyes boring into me after my response. I blink. Why did I go and affirm his presumption? What good will it do me?

He shakes his head, in what appears to be astonished bewilderment, while I mentally berate myself for the slip of the tongue.

"A soul sealed in stone…" He mutters, drawing a hand through shoulder length dark hair.

I freeze at that. What did he just say? Soul? You mean my soul? Sealed in stone? Was he talking about sealing magic? But you would need something to seal the soul inside, something durable, generally a… my eyes land on a strange oval stone that lies on top of the table. How could I possibly have missed it until now? A notice-me-not charm placed on it?

I clutch my forehead, the flash of a memory tearing viciously through my mind.

'Disbelief. Refusal. Restrain. Blood. Chants. Voices… _His soul, his essence, let it be forever sealed away… until it be of need once more…'_

I gasp loudly. Holding both hands to my head as it sears and feels like it's about to cleave in two. Vaguely I hear the men talking to each other, or are they trying to talk to me? I stumble forward; fall to my knees, crying out as the pain spikes. I will myself to leave that memory and the pain stops just as suddenly as it hit.

My hands fall to my sides listlessly and I look up wearily. My eyes catch one wide and two pair of disbelieving gazes. They're staring at me, or more exactly where one of the table's legs is going straight through my shoulder. I find myself doing the same for a short dazed moment, until the realization as I put the final pieces together crashes down on me like a tidal wave and shocks me to the very core of my being.

I look up again, focusing on the first man with almost desperate eyes.

"My soul, what did they do with my soul? What did they do to me?!" I ask loudly. They couldn't have, would they really do that to me?

He frowns down at me in bewilderment, maybe something that looks like minor concern.

My chest constricts, the sides of my vision fading as panic sets in, and soon my surroundings melts away to be replaced with a familiar void of darkness.

* * *

To their collective astonishment; they all watch as the boy, slowly, fades away, and then leaves nothing behind but empty space in his wake.

The one to pull himself back into some semblance of control first is, perhaps unsurprisingly, Yuy.

"Chang, what the hell is going on here?" He demands.

Chang broke his eyes away from the spot the boy had previously occupied. His mind is still whirling with the implications of his hastily compiled guesses and the bewildered affirmation from the boy himself. He just, faded away…

"Honestly?" He says with a small shake and raise of the eyebrows. "I really don't know how to answer that question right now, or if I ever will." With both hands he shuffles his papers into one jumbled pile.

There is a dark frown of hidden confusion as Yuy lowers his gun, since there was no point with the target having seemingly disappeared. He stares at the previously occupied spot on the floor and Chang can somewhat understand the emotions of disbelief behind those eyes.

Barton steps past Yuy and crouches down at the spot the boy had just been, reaching a hand out and feeling the air, touching the table leg and flooring. Nothing out of the ordinary would clue the man that the strange boy had just been there.

"What did you say earlier?" He asks with a murmur.

"What?" Chang replies distractedly, a piece of paper held in one hand.

"'A soul sealed in stone.'" Barton repeats softly, rising to his feet as his green eyes come to rest at the tablet with a thoughtful expression.

"You don't think?" Chang questions while he shakes his head again, yet he knows it's the only 'plausible' explanation he has to go on, right now at the least. Even though a part of his mind tells him it has to be true, it is still against all logic of nature. Not to mention common sense!

"I don't know what to think anymore." Barton says with an outdrawn sigh. "You tell me, you're the expert here, what did the script on the stone say." He asks.

"I still can't read everything, or be exactly sure of those I actually can..." Chang hedges carefully.

"But?" Barton prompts, having sensed Chang's hesitation.

"But…I could make out two signs that could have the meaning of 'seal' and 'soul', that is to say, crudely translated at that, a soul sealed in stone."

Barton nods once.

"Chang." Yuy comes up to the two men, casting his eye at the stone as well. "Do you mean to tell me that that boy is somehow 'sealed' inside that stone? The mere idea is utterly preposterous and you know that."

Barton gives the usually stoic man a small smile.

"We have yet to explain many things contained to this world." He replies cryptically.

"You can't be serious Barton." Yuy says with an annoyed frown.

Barton merely shrugs; he isn't about to tell the other man what to believe in.

"Chang!" Yuy turns back to his Chinese friend.

"I'm sorry, Yuy." Chang says and then continues softly. "I'm actually starting to believe what we saw was the soul of that boy sealed in this stone." He waves his hand over said object. He will be damned if the other thought he'd lost his mind or something. Maybe he had.

Yuy breathes out a frustrated sigh, turning on his heel and disappearing out the door without another word. The two watches him go, their eyes thoughtful as they return to peruse the innocent looking stone.

"Get some sleep Chang." Barton says after a while, interrupting the little moment and turning to leave as well.

"Will do." Chang replies distractedly.

Well, at least he would try, he added to himself.

* * *

I'm surprised when my eyes meet dim light once again; somehow I'd expected not to wake up again from the, not so minor, shock I'd received. Well, at least I'm not dead, just sealed in stone. I grimace at my own sarcasm and look around the room, noting it's the same one from before. A glance to the right shows that Chinese man sitting with his back to me on his desk chair. He has his shoulders hunched over his desk, examining something or another. Probably hasn't seen me yet. Judging by the lack of reaction.

I swallow nervously, looking down and grimacing again when I see my chest stopping at the table like last time. I carefully step out (eerily noticing my steps make no sound) and then stop a few steps behind the man, not really sure about my next move.

They say the simplest way is often the right so… I discreetly clear my throat.

Obviously not as discreetly as I imagined as he nearly jumps out of his chair. My bad. I have a brief moment of guilt for scaring him like that, and as he turns around to focus his eyes on me I feel myself growing uncomfortable with the long and hard stare. Gazes locked uncomfortably, my mouth clamps shut, unsure of what to expect from him. Will he scream? (Although he didn't do that the first time.) Call his companions back? (I'd rather not meet that blue eyed guy again.) Maybe shoot me again? (Whatever good that would do.)

"Who are you?"

His voice is soft. He's certainly not screaming, thank Merlin for that, or even threatening me, which is also a relief.

I end up floundering for a moment. It's not like I find myself in these situations everyday you know, that is, finding out that my soul has somehow been trapped in a stone, or rather sealed away. This, without a doubt, outmatches any other trouble I've ever gotten myself into before up to this date, and I've gotten myself into quite a few. (I'm not bragging, sadly only stating the facts.)

"…Harry." I reply carefully after some hesitation.

He blinks.

I blink back.

I reach my hand up to touch the back of my neck in a nervous gesture, averting my eyes from his steady stare.

"Where do you come from Harry?"

I look at him, trying to determine his objectives. He lets me scrutinize him. I'm sure I'm looking at him with not so well hidden suspicion. Although suspicious I don't see any point in keeping completely silent. Happy about it or not, right now he's the only one here that can help me on the way to understanding this whole mess. I haven't forgotten that small detail of me unable to move out of this room. I have to give him credit though; he's actually talking to me and not trying to shoot me again. A definite improvement in my books if anything.

"England." I say. I had noticed that his accent was not British and I'm still trying to place it. "Who are you?" I throw back at him.

He gives me a small smile.

"My name is Chang, Wufei Chang." So he _was_ Chinese, I think to myself, at the same time mildly surprised he shares the same last name with Cho. "I'm an archeologist and scholar."

My eyebrows rise at the last part of the revelation.

"And you carry a gun?" I ask dubiously, reminding him that I had not forgotten that he had, indeed, actually shot me before.

Chang looks sheepish enough and coughs lightly behind a raised hand.

"Yes, well, I used to be a, soldier, first. Old habits die hard, as they say." My eyes narrow at the pause; something telling me I wasn't getting the whole truth, or an edited version. Why did adults always do that?

"So they say." I repeat, eyeing him closely.

He looks back at me, watching me thoughtfully.

"You know what a gun is?" He asks curiously.

I look at him surprised.

"Doesn't everyone?" I say, not bothering to take into account the full blooded witches and wizards who wouldn't know of things like a laptop and a TV, least of all a gun.

"I had thought…that people, like you, wouldn't know what they were." He says slowly, sounding uncertain.

My eyes narrow at that.

"'People like me?'" I repeat.

He must have sensed my irritation, since he tries to smooth it over with his next statement.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to be rude. It's simply that I do not know anything except of what I was told as a child by my grandfather of these 'gifted people' like yourself." He word carefully.

"You mean people with magic?" I clarify and I watch his eyes widen with mild amusement despite myself.

Unsure whether to be concerned or not by the twinkle of growing excitement I see hinting in the depths of those impossibly dark eyes, I still wait for the information to sink in.

"Magic." He breaths out, and he shakes his head with a quiet chuckle before continuing. "Truly?"

"Yes." I frown mildly.

"So that means you are…" He trails off, leaning forward in his seat.

"…a wizard." I answer slowly in return, leaning back in response, eyeing the man oddly.

He chuckles again.

"Amazing, truly amazing."

"What is this place?" I ask, trying to steer the conversation towards a direction where I possibly get some answers to my own questions. To find a way out of this whole mess.

I turn to the side to take a walk around the room, looking over the many books and pieces of papers lying around. It's a peculiar room really, some kind of office, although with lots of these weird looking machines and gadgets spread all around.

"It's my office."

I should've guessed that, wait, I just did.

"And, where, exactly is your office?" I ask again. Hopefully I aren't too far away from Hogwarts.

"America."

I freeze before whirling around to stare at him.

"America?!" I exclaim incrediously. "How the bloody hell did I get to America? I've never even been out of the UK!"

Chang blinks at me after my outburst. Bloody hell, America? Seriously?

Shaking off his momentary surprise, Chang throws a glance towards the table, my eyes following the glance.

"I would have to assume, considering the circumstances and all, that you came to be here by effect of me moving that stone from there to here. We found it in Scotland."

"Right." I reply, swallowing once. I look closer at it, almost afraid that pain is going to come to me again but thankfully nothing happens. I know what that stone must be, I've had Hermione dragging me through a long lecture about them for a school assignment we had in fifth, or was it fourth year? Reading about unfortunate victims sealed away (all from an enemy to a cheating lover), though I never, ever, imagined that I would fall victim myself to one. "A sealing stone."

"So I was right?" Chang says, drawing my attention back to him. "Your soul really is sealed in that stone? How is that possible? How is it that I can see you and yet you are incorporeal?"

Okay, that was too many questions at once. I'm getting overwhelmed here; I still haven't gotten around to fully accepting the fact that my soul has been sealed away in a fricking stone, thank you very much. By whom? Who would do that? Well, except Death Eaters of course (and Voldemort if he was still alive that is). I assume most of them had to naturally have felt a fair degree of animosity towards me after killing their leader…

"I don't know." I say, holding a hand to my temple. Nothing comes to mind. "I don't know." I repeat frustratingly and almost helplessly.

Chang eyes me with some concern.

"How old are you Harry?" He asks eventually.

I frown.

"Seventeen." I mutter.

He seems surprised at my age, which has me feeling irritated all over again.

"Yes, I know I'm a bit on the short side." I snap with another annoyed mutter.

"Ah, no, I just didn't expect someone so young…" He trails off, rephrasing himself. "What happened to you?"

"I don't know, I don't know why I'm trapped in that bloody stone. I can't remember why or who did it, so stop asking me questions about it!" I shout at him.

He raises his hand, in a gesture to calm me down I suppose. A short moment later and temper under control again, I cast him a glance out of the corner of my eye, noticing that he had watched me the whole time. I feel annoyed at the concern that shows in his eyes, but being the only available person to talk to right now I push my raging emotions aside.

I sigh deeply; feeling tired and sits down on the ground in a heap, feet crossed and arms on my thighs.

"I don't know." I repeat in a more level voice. "It was all supposed to have ended, you know, the war was supposed to have come to an end."

"War? You were in a war?"

I look up at him, wondering at the sudden strange tone in his voice.

"I was." I confirm.

"I see." He says sounding almost resigned. There's no pity in his voice, just silent understanding and a thoughtful, though slightly glum, expression. "When did it start?"

"Long before I was born," I pause, almost reconsidering my decision before continuing. "Though something happened to set him, their leader, back for a couple of years, he came back to power when I was fourteen."

"I was in a war from the age of fifteen to seventeen." Chang says, throwing me off guard.

I look at him surprised, not having expected that at all. His behavior made much more sense now. Maybe he did understand me, just a little anyway.

"What kind of war?" I ask him curiously.

He sighs before replying.

"A war between the colonies and Earth."

I blink at that.

Wait, hold on, did he just say a war against _Earth_? Colonies? What colonies?

"Colonies?" I ask confused, my bewilderment showing in my voice.

He halts himself, staring at me with a puzzled expression before he starts to shake his head again, murmuring quickly and softly to himself.

"When was this war of yours Harry? Year wise."

I look at him strangely, knowing that I must be missing something important here but can't really put my finger on it.

I take a moment to think, mentally counting the years from what I can recall before replying.

"It started up again in 1995 and ended this year, -98. I don't remember when he first…" I trail off uncertainly.

He looks at me again, I mean _really_ looks at me, pure astonishment coloring his face, like he can't believe what he just heard. I'm starting to think that I've gotten myself in much deeper trouble than what I had originally thought.

And of course I was right. Trouble magnet extraordinaire, yep, that's me.

"Harry… that was more than four hundred years ago." Wufei says watching me carefully.

He sits there, looking up at me and waiting for my reaction. What reaction? I don't know how to react to that. How do you react to that? Do you scream, laugh, cry, what the bloody hell do you do? What exactly do you do when you find out that some bloody bastard sealed you away in a stone, a stone for crying out loud, for more than four hundred years ago? Tell me, really how are you supposed to react to that?

"No…" I start, shaking my head in denial, refusing to believe it.

"Harry, I'm sorry,-"

"Don't!" I interrupt him. "No." I deny again vehemently, shaking my head. "No, that's not right, that _can't_ be right." I say pushing out the last words with force.

I look up at him imploringly.

"Tell me that's not true."

He shakes his head.

"I'm sorry."

I open and close my mouth. This isn't merely about being in trouble anymore; about getting Hermione to figure out a solution so that I would be home by dinner. No, it's worse than that, much worse. I don't even have any people to contact or answer to anymore for the trouble that I've gotten myself into. Because, because…

"They're all dead…" I whisper, my eyes empty and going glassy.

I shake my head slowly, mind feeling numb. My breath hitches and I swallow randomly. I know I'm shivering, but I can't help it. The emotions, those dark emotions that suddenly erupts and clutches at my heart when I think about my friends, they're too much. They're all too much and I don't know how to handle them. The only thing I really can do to escape the emotions, it is to let the darkness envelope me once more.

* * *

Chang looks down at his tray of cafeteria food with a sour expression. He has yet to touch more than a few bites of the pasta salad and taken only a few sips of his drink. Almost a week already and Harry hasn't appeared even once during that time. He knows the boy must have suffered a great shock, realizing that all his loved ones were all far gone and dead by a couple centuries or so would do that to anyone he imagined. The boy was still young, it was understandable. But then there was the matter of what the boy had told Chang. That he'd been in a war since he was fourteen years old. It was eerie how similar his life seemed to be with to his own. Was that why he was so hung up about the boy?

"Wufei? Are you alright?"

Chang looks up from his plate and takes in the blond man standing before him.

He sighs.

"I'm fine Winner." He says, reaching for his fork and taking a bite of his salad, chewing automatically.

Winner eyes him for a moment before he sits down in the opposite seat. They eat in silence and it's not until Chang finishes his drink that Winner speaks up again.

"Trowa mentioned something, peculiar, yesterday." Winner says carefully, watching Chang all the while.

The dark haired male raises his eyes and gaze at the other.

"Did he now?" Chang replies, wording himself equally as carefully.

Winner frowns, seemingly not knowing quite how to proceed from there, but Chang's not fooled. Eventually the other discreetly eyes their surrounding before leaning forth the slightest.

"That the accidental shooting incident, in your office, over a week ago," At this he eyes Chang closely. "Was not just a gun 'accidently' going off." He finishes.

"I see." Chang replies evenly.

He's not that up to sharing anything until he's gotten his own thoughts in order first, but the insistent gaze Winner gives him has him reluctantly relenting. He stands up with tray in one hand.

"This conversation is best had outside the range of wayward ears." He says in way of explanation to Winner's questioning look.

* * *

"Would you be so kind and repeat that?" Winner says with a pleasantly polite smile.

Chang sighs and flops down in his chair, swiveling around to face the desk. He wasn't about to repeat himself and was just going to let Winner soak it all in to see what the man's reaction would be. Chang is admittedly mildly curious actually to see how the calm and gentle mannered man will respond to such unbelievable information.

Winner's smile grows strained as Chang only gives the other a raise of the eyebrow in response to the question.

"Wufei, you cannot be serious. Tell me you're not serious. It's not like you to joke about such things." Winner reasons.

"Exactly. I stand by what I have already told you." He simply says and withdraw a booklet from one of the drawers, thumbing through the first few pages and then starting to read a highlighted portion of the text.

"Impossible." Winner says softly, slumping into his seat.

Chang doesn't look up as he hears the door open and close gently a few minutes later.

* * *

"Whoa, Wufei, is it even possible to look that gloomy? Are you really that depressed Harry still hasn't popped up?"

Chang tears his eyes away from his notes to stare bewildered at the longhaired man leaning against the doorframe to his office.

"Maxwell! How did you-" He started.

"Know about Harry?" Maxwell finishes for him with a bemused expression. "Quatre and Trowa." He says in way of explanation, fingering a manila folder in his hands. "Heero's still in denial by the way." He adds with a quirk of the mouth.

"And you?" Chang can't help but to ask.

"Me?" The male, his long braid of hair trailing down his back, shrugs casually and steps into the office, closing the door behind him with the heel of his boot. "I'm still undecided. I like to keep my options open." He says noncommittally with a glance around the room.

Chang hums, his dark eyes falling on the stone plate sitting quietly on the table.

Maxwell stops his little walk by the table and takes to leaning against the edge of it with an elbow while resting the folder against his thigh. He examines the stone curiously, having followed Chang's line of sight.

"That is the one?" He asks, while both men's eyes are still on the innocent looking object on the plain wooden surface.

Maxwell taps the folder against his thigh.

"That is it." Chang confirmed.

"Doesn't look like much." Maxwell murmurs, turning over to take a closer look from another angle. "So, you can read this stuff?" He queries as his eyes follow the lines and curves of the letters.

"Only a small amount of it." Chang concedes grudgingly.

He heaves himself up and joins Maxwell in his close up perusal. How many times has he already looked down on the plate, enough to have all the letters already memorized by heart?

After only a minute Maxwell huffs and straightens up.

"Don't hide yourself away in your office Wufei, 's not good for ya." He says, ignoring the mild glare sent his way. "Anyway, the rest of the guys are meeting up later at seven at the usual place. I expect you be there, and I won't take no for an answer!" He calls over his shoulder before Chang can offer up even a petulant protest.

* * *

Wufei isn't in the room when I come to again, so much is apparent since the lights isn't turned on. It's somewhat disappointing, and somewhat of a relief, since I'm feeling embarrassed about my reaction. Wonder when he would possibly be back. Was it after work hours already? This was an office after all. Perhaps it was night or something? No way of telling though with the apparent lack of windows, or how many hours it would take until he came in for work if it was. Could be the weekend for all I know.

I look around the room, for a clock of some kind. Well, trying to spot any; the lack of light doesn't do much for my already bad eyesight, glasses withstanding. Guess that's the same. I reach up and feel the rim of my glasses, adjusting them and dimly remembering only seeing Wufei wearing glasses when he was working on or reading something. Maybe he was only farsighted? Lucky git.

I stand in the middle of the room for a moment, wondering if I should just try and 'go back' into the stone but not sure how long until next time I'll 'wake up', so to speak, and what if I don't? There's no real guarantee that I would was there?

Four hundred years... It didn't feel like that long. At all. I was only asleep for a short while, a small slumber, a nap really. I'm still me from what I can see (with some minor exceptions). I think I ought to be feeling more upset than I am at the moment. I feel oddly calm walking around Wufei's office in the dark. Yes, I'm still frustrated and sad, yet the emotions aren't as palpable as they were at first. Was this how shocked people felt?

I shake my head. Maybe in more like the first step of acceptance? I can't do anything about the people gone so why wallow in misery over them. Strange and incredulous things were just going to happen to me, no matter my personal input apparently, my ticket in life. Kind of depressing too, when I think about it.

Grimacing awkwardly I move on to Wufei's desk and peer down on the papers lying haphazardly all over the surface. Organized chaos, eh? I catch myself in the act of trying to move the sheets to the side to see the ones beneath and frown as I do so. I had almost forgotten I can't actually touch or move anything in the current state I'm in. Oh, jolly.

I sigh loudly.

I'm invading his privacy aren't I, snooping around like this, but then again if Wufei isn't here to answer the questions I want answered then I have to find them out for myself, now don't I? It wasn't working out that well though, only being able to peruse what texts lay with their immediate fronts up and not hidden behind other sheets of paper. I'm able to figure out one thing however, and that is what Wufei has been studying, for what seems like a long time now judging the amount of material. Runes. Or some kind of runes anyway I think. Being unable to read runes, it's a first for me to actually regret not having taken that class in school. Would have been awfully useful now wouldn't it? I chuckle tiredly, drawing a hand through my fringe. I'm actually missing doing school work.

"Harry?"

I nearly jump out of my skin at the voice behind my back, stumbling into the desk, my arms disappearing up to the elbows before I jerk them back again just as the room lights up and effectively blinds me for a few seconds.

"What were you doing?" Wufei asks after closing the door, moving over to the desk to cast an eye over it.

"Where did you find these?" I ask instead, cheeks heating up lightly with embarrassment of actually being caught in the act of snooping. I gesture towards the mountain of hand scribbled runes.

Wufei looks at me for a short moment curiously.

"You know this script?" He inquires, eyes suddenly gleaming with interest, and reminding me briefly of Hermione discovering an unexplored book in the Hogwarts library or something.

"They're runes." I say simply. "A friend of mine studied them in school."

"Really?" The man says excitedly, jumping into action and rummaging around on his desk, snatching a piece of paper off of it to hold it up to my face. I blink reflexively. "Can you read this?" The hopefulness in his voice makes me feel bad to have to shoot down said hopes.

"No, I never took the class, thought it would be boring honestly. Sure wish I had taken it now though…" I say somewhat sheepish.

Wufei stares at me disappointedly, taking a last look at the sheet again before sighing and depositing it back on the desk.

"I'm sorry." I say, not really knowing why I'm apologizing.

He shakes his head and gives me a small reassuring smile. Then he looks at me with mild concern.

"Are you okay?"

"What?" I ask confused.

"I mean," He continues carefully, sweeping his hand over a couple stray sheets. "You must have had, quite a shock the last time."

"Oh."

Yes, oh that. I'd almost, mind just almost, forgotten how our last meeting had gone down. That was an understatement if I ever heard one.

"You alright?"

"I'm fine." I say. "Really." I add at the dubious look he sends me. "It's just another thing to add to the list," I shrug. "Though this probably tops the rest." I mumble out the last part.

His expression alone tells me that he's not convinced, but decides not to push the subject, for now anyways. He pulls out his chair and sits down. The desk lamp flares to life and papers get moved around; if possible making a bigger mess than it was before.

"You…" He pauses. "Were gone for over a week." He throws a look over his shoulder to see my reaction and I feel my eyes widen at his statement.

"A whole week?" I frown. "It only felt like a short nap. But then again those four hundred years felt like a nap too…well, sort of, maybe more like a night's sleep."

Well, this does clear up one thing. The fact I'm not actually aware of the real passing of time while in that stone. So I could go back into it, back to sleep, and don't wake up for another four hundred years or so?

My stomach clenches uncomfortably at the thought. I feel surprisingly a bit sad at the possible prospect of not seeing Wufei again. He would be long gone too wouldn't he, dead, and then who knows where or with whom I might end up? Wufei happened to be nice enough (not counting the first half of our first meeting, I don't know where shooting someone counted as nice). If I fell asleep again, would someone like Wufei find me again? I doubt I could be that lucky a second time, if I was found at all.

"What was it like?" Wufei asks curiously, cutting off my line of thought .

"Huh?" I look up at him.

"In the stone."

I bite my lip in thought.

"It was nothing, really. It's just that…" I pause with another frown, urged on with a nod. "Sometimes I thought I'd just fallen unconscious, you know, that I would wake up in the school infirmary any second, and other times I wondered if I wasn't dead" I stop myself with a heavy sigh. "It was all confusing. I kept drifting in and out of awareness, memories from before going hazy…"

Again I pause for a moment, though this time for something else that I remember from within the stone.

"There was this rocking sensation once. Like movement, my whole body felt like it swayed from side to side, for just a short time though . I think it was just before I met you actually." I say with a thoughtful glance at the man.

"You felt that?" Wufei asks with raised eyebrows.

"Felt what?"

"It must have been when we transferred the tablet from Scotland to America."

"I, think so?" I reply unsurely before perking up. "Where exactly in Scotland did you find me?"

"The highlands, far in the north."

"Hogwarts…" I whisper longingly with a crooked smile.

"Hogwarts?" Wufei queries curiously in response.

"It's the name of the school I go to, or I suppose it's 'went to' now." I amend with a sad smile.

Wufei crooked his mouth.

"So those ruins used to be your school?"

My eyes widen.

"Ruins?" I ask with slight trepidation.

No, don't think like that Harry, Hogwarts was built with magic, it was sturdy, it was a huge arse castle for Merlin's sake. It had been standing on that spot since its very founding, certainly longer than four mere centuries, how could it possibly have been reduced to mere ruins?

"Hogwarts was a castle, built with magic over one thousand years before I even started at the school!"

Wufei holds his hands up in a placating manner.

"Hold on, what's to say those ruins was this Hogwarts of yours? It could very well be another castle or building." Wufei said, but didn't sound all too sure about it himself.

I can't help the hollow feeling in my stomach. Somehow I just know something must have happened to the castle.

Sighing loudly I sit down on the floor, since I can't really sit in a chair now can I, awkwardly aware that I'm not really touching the ground. Wonder if this was how Sir Nicholas experienced everything? I shouldn't have teased him. This was _not_ fun.

"What's going to happen to me?" I ask quietly after a few seconds of silence.

Wufei doesn't reply as he eyes me from above in his seat, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Don't think too much on it." He says eventually. "Just concentrate on the now."

"Easy for you to say. You haven't actually been sealed in a bloody stone for over four centuries." I bit back but he just lets it roll off his shoulders.

"That doesn't mean I won't try and help you."

It leaves me with wide surprised eyes and also immediately feeling guilty about my outburst, which I suppose was uncalled for.

"Sorry." I mumble.

He just gives me a small smile.

"Don't worry about it. I'll look through my papers. There must be something here that'll help me decipher those runes. If you were sealed away then there should be a way of unsealing you. Logically speaking."

I hold back my initial urge to reply that magic, if anything, is far from logical.

He turns the chair around and flips through one pile of papers.

I watch him, pursing my mouth in thought.

"Wufei?"

He rests his hand on the desk and looks over his shoulder at me again, adjusting his glasses while waiting for me to go on as I worry my lower lip between my teeth.

"Thank you. I mean it."

He smiles at me, slightly wider than the previous ones and I frown inwardly at the strange fluttering that eases some of my worry away.

I settle back and watch him work, reading and mumbling paragraphs to himself every now and then. Occasionally he throws a question for me over the shoulder. It frustrates me that the answers I give is sorely lacking in information or usefulness. I can't help but to feel a touch of unease knowing that right now Wufei is my sole hope of working this whole mess out.

I tell myself not to get my hopes up, knowing that there's no way a muggle could really help me and the disappointment at the end of the road is a fact rather than a possible outcome. I need help from actual wizards and witches, but can't make myself say that to Wufei's face. Practical rune magic are advanced stuff, even Hermione had difficulties with it and had only come as far as the basics from what I remember of what she told me.

Wufei brushes a hand through his dark hair, grumbling.

I let my eyes fall to the ground. The hours slowly ticking by and it's only after I notice that I've been nodding off for half an hour that I astonishingly, and somewhat fearfully, realize that I'm falling asleep again.

Before I feel myself sink into sleep, eyelids sliding close, there's a lone, repetitive thought passing in my mind.

'Don't get your hopes up too high, Harry.'

* * *

**AN: **That was the second chapter guys! I really hoped you liked it. More interaction between Harry and Wufei, and more to come in the next chapter. :D Until next time! Lin


	3. The Crossroad

**Disclaimers: **I do not own either Harry Potter or Gundam Wing; they both belong to their respective owners, J. K. Rowling and Sunrise.

**Summary: **In the highlands of Scotland arrives an archeological expedition led by Wufei Chang in search of traces of a Germanic people supposedly long lost in time and history.

**Pairing: **Harry+Wufei+Harry (mild)

**Warnings: SLASH. OOC(ness?), not-so-accurate-and-playing-around-with-history, **switches between **Harry POV/third person perspective. AU** for HP after book seven and excluding the epilogue, and for GW after the whole series and the Endless Waltz OVA.

**Author's Notes: **This is the biggest one yet. Lengths had to be adjusted because of the flow of the story so this chapter got really longer than the others 'cause I couldn't split up that last scene. So, without further ado, the third chapter of...

* * *

Written in Stone

* * *

_'A stone is ingrained with geological and historical memories.'_

- Andy Goldsworthy

* * *

The group of young men had been arguing for a while, before they were abruptly startled into silence with the sudden appearance of a boy. This was the same boy currently captured in a stone that Chang had brought home from his latest expedition. Who also had been the reason for the argument.

Perhaps the sound of their upset voices woke up the boy from his slumber, as Chang called it. Noticing the room go instantly quiet, the boy became awkwardly aware of five pair of eyes solely focused on his person.

Harry steps forward, probably to avoid looking gruesomely cut in half (some winced at the sight) from where he usually appear right in the middle of the table. He eyes the occupants warily, appearing to recognize two of the men from before but not the other pair. Old and new faces stare at him with a mix of surprise and astonishment, while the boy himself is looking very much uncomfortable with the attention, and feeling very much out of place.

"Okay, now I believe." Maxwell says, letting out the breath he'd been holding in. "You're still in denial Heero?" He throws over his shoulder at the short haired Asian male who just delivers a somewhat harsh glare in return.

"So, you're Harry?" Maxwell continues unperturbed by the glare, turning back to the raven haired teenager and eyeing the boy from top to bottom curiously.

The boy unconsciously tugs at the hem of his maroon shirt, patting out invisible wrinkles.

"How do you know my name?" The boy questions suspiciously, a somewhat disgruntled look thrown Chang's way since the man was the only one who could have told.

Chang meets the boy's stare steadily, watching the boy for a short moment before he returns his attention to Yuy whom it had been directed at before Harry appeared in their midst. Chang feels sorry for having to ignore the boy for now, but he still has to convince Yuy to change his decision.

"Yuy, you can't tell Lady Une about him." He states firmly.

"It's out of my hands now." Yuy replies in return.

"The hell it is!" Chang throws back. "You aren't even part of this department." He points out.

"It's our collective responsibility." Yuy holds firm, throwing a fleeting look at the now confused Harry. "We have to report this," Yuy pauses momentarily. "Apparition to Lady Une. You know that as much as me Chang."

Chang grumbles, knowing Yuy's words to be true, it was protocol after all, but not liking it one bit in this instance.

"I'm not some bloody apparition!" Harry glares at the shorter Asian looking male, who watches the boy unfazed.

"I know you're not Harry." Chang assures him. He looks at Yuy again. "I was just telling Yuy here the exact same thing. Yuy, please listen, just give me some time. A week." He bargains.

Yuy shakes his head and for a moment, albeit short, looking almost apologetic.

"You have until the end of the day." Yuy's features loosen mildly as he eyes his friend. Giving Harry a frown the gaze tightens again before making his exit.

Maxwell sighs loudly and artfully after Yuy's departure, offering a small crooked and true apologetic smile to the frowning boy.

"Don't think too badly of Heero. He's just following Preventer protocol and doing what he thinks is right."

"What did he mean by reporting me? Who's Lady Une?" Harry asks, turning back to the Chinese male.

"Lady Une is the chief of the Preventers organization." Chang explains.

"Preventers?"

"Protectors of justice and all that 'huzzah!'." Maxwell replies wittingly, eyeing Harry curiously with wide eyes as the boy's hand accidently passes through the table before he notices it and jerks it back to his side. The boy glowers at the table, earning a chuckle from the braided man.

"More or less, I suppose." Chang concurs with an annoyed sigh at which Maxwell just grins.

The braided male moves up to the boy, making said boy back up in response.

"What?" Harry asks unsurely.

"Wufei tells me you're a real wizard." Maxwell states matter-of-factly.

Chang rolls his eyes at his friend's bluntness.

"Because I am?" Harry replies slowly.

Maxwell rises up with a hum.

"Who would've thunk it?" He mumbles amused.

Winner, who up to this point had chosen to silently observe, turns to Chang with a concerned expression.

"Wufei, you know Heero had no choice in the matter, he is the head of security and it's his responsibility, no matter personal feelings from either parties."

Chang sighs again, rubbing the heel of his palm against his temple.

"I know Winner, but it doesn't mean I have to like it."

Winner smiles understandingly.

"Harry," Chang says at length, addressing the dark haired teenager who looks up at the call of his name. "I'm giving you a heads up, by the end of the day Lady Une, that's my superior, will most probably be making a visit. Although whether she'll believe what Yuy tells her or not is another thing altogether, she _will_ come and demand answers, I'm sure." He pauses to take a breath. "I'm making it clear to you now that I do not intend to make any lies about you or withhold anything of importance to her as my superior, you understand that?"

"Are you in trouble?" Harry surprises them by asking.

"I suppose you could put it that way." Chang acquiesces reluctantly. He's rarely been in trouble before since joining the Preventers, or with Lady Une before, and was hoping this would work in his favor.

"Because you were helping me." Harry says with a troubled frown.

Chang sighs for the umpteenth time, off-handedly wondering exactly how many times today he'd sighed already. He hoped it wasn't becoming a new habit of his, god forbid it.

"I wanted to." Chang states firmly.

"Chang." Barton interrupts.

"I know, I know."

Chang knows his time to come up with clues and answers to Harry's 'dilemma' is probably about to run out soon. While he has the utmost respect for Lady Une, he has no proper idea how she will react to this.

"How far have you come?" Barton asks as Chang moves over to his desk, grasping piles of paper and depositing them on the much larger table.

"Could you help me organize those?" Chang throws Winner a look while pointing at a pile and receiving a nod in return.

"Exactly how have you've been able to keep track of this massive amount of papers?" Maxwell exclaims dramatically with a raised eyebrow, flipping through another bunch of sheets.

"There should be slips with different colors." Chang replies distractedly.

"Uhuh, and where are those…?"

"It's color coded then?" Winner says over Maxwell's petulant murmur, spotting a blue slip in the upper hand corner of one bunch of papers. He flips through another pile. "Ah, I see."

"Where're the pink ones?" Maxwell asks with a grin, after finding one with a green slip.

Barton shakes his head from where he is sorting another pile.

"Shut up and work." Chang grumbles.

* * *

I took up a viewpoint from one of the free corners after an hour or so of watching Wufei and, what I was assuming to be, his friends or probably his work colleagues. It would seem to me, judging from how he behaves around them, that he has at least known them for a handful of years, if not more than that. It reminds me a bit of Ron and Hermione, the interaction in the group. I quickly dispel that thought though, since it only serves to make me glummer to remember them now.

I notice the errant looks sent my way once in a while, various interest and curiosity shown in the depths of their eyes and the clouded, kind one from Wufei. My pride prevents me from admitting that I've actually been avoiding his occasional gazes recently whenever he sends them in my direction. I also keep denying to myself that I am, despite my attitude, appreciative of their efforts. It's, nice, that someone cares enough to help, even though they have no obligation to do so. As the conflict between Voldemort and the Order had grown, I had grown accustomed to not trusting anyone but my closest friends and a select group of Order members. I was wondering, that maybe I was seeking some kind of replacement for my now long gone lost friends in Wufei, but wouldn't that be disrespectful to the man and his actions towards me? I try to stay away from that kind of thinking, even if the thought itself keeps rearing its ugly head at me.

But I'm still grateful you know. In the end it really is a nice feeling, knowing someone cares. I'm confused over my recent averseness of meeting Wufei's eyes though. Being puzzled by it and thinking about it isn't really helping me get a straight answer. It's strange. I've never been like this before.

I glance over at the stone, my eyes trailing over its surface.

I wonder what will happen to me if Wufei isn't be able to find of a way freeing me from it. Will I forever be caught as I am now? Go back to sleep? Unable to touch things and do magic? The one thing that seems to hurt the most is being unable to do any magic. I've tried several times already with the same end result. Nothing. Absolutely nothing, not even a spark. My magic is as corporeal as my body is.

This Lady Une person that the others had been talking about, what will she have to say about me? Will she decide to lock me away in some place, destroy the stone or hand me over to some madman for experiments like in those horror movies Dudley would always sneak down into the living room to watch?

What was the time again? How many hours have already gone by? How long until that other man, (Yuy was it?) will tell her about all about me? It's sure hard to tell the time without any windows to look out of and no clocks to check (he should at least get a clock). I know it isn't looking good for me. Wufei's expression has been growing tenser and more strained as time passs. It's an expression I have come to associate with Hermione when she would grow increasingly frustrated and stressed out when an answer or solution wouldn't come to her. As it is now, it's more than apparent that it probably isn't going too well, which in turn doesn't bode too well for me either.

I jump when the door, suddenly, opens and a woman strides into the room, followed by Wufei's colleague. My fair guess is that this is Lady Une, if her similarities here and there with Professor McGonagall are anything to go by, which means my time has finally run out.

"Lady Une!" The slightly shorter and blond man, Winner I believe Wufei called him, lets out as he sees enter the office.

I stay in my corner, eyeing her warily as she come to stand by the table and looks down at the complete mess of papers littering most of the available surface. Her stern appearance and the bun in which she keeps her hair reminds me awkwardly of Professor McGonagall, more precisely when she is right about to detract a large amount of points from her own house.

"Mr. Chang, I have been told, by Mr. Yuy here no less, that you brought home something, _unusual_, from your latest trip." The tone, though still calm, hides a slight warning underneath it.

She has an impressive voice too I note with a weakly hidden grimace. A non nonsense woman this one.

"Supernatural is more like it." Maxwell mumbles indiscreetly and receives a stern glance from the woman, though she surprisingly let it pass.

"At first I believed Mr. Yuy was joking with me," Maxwell snickered quietly at this, making me think he is one of those people that don't know danger until it bits him in the arse. The twins would probably have heartily approved. "But then I remembered Mr. Yuy is not capable of making jokes," The snickers grew at that statement. "Which leaves his report to me all the more bewildering and, I must say, outrageous. I demand an explanation. Now."

Winner and Barton, I believe the other were called, turns as one to look at Wufei who is showing a troubled expression and looking like he is taking what time he can to decide exactly what to say, or not to say, and maybe how to proceed from there. Good choice. I don't envy him his position, although I suppose I would have an easier time of explaining something like this, the whole sealing and magic deal. I just don't think she will appreciate my input. Everyone in this room, except for me of course, are after all regular muggles. How do you go about explaining that you have found a stone, one with a sealed soul inside when the general muggle didn't even believe in ghosts? Which in fact does exist, but let's leave that for another time and conversation.

"Would you be so kind as to tell me, exactly what Yuy has told you Lady Une?" Wufei replies carefully.

The woman raises an eyebrow, looking not so impressed, but she's willing to go along with his request, for the time being anyway.

"That a so called 'apparition', that was the word he used actually, came out of this stone you brought back from Scotland. An apparition of a teenage boy." She says evenly and it's clear how much she actually believes in that statement, meaning close to none. She obviously thinks someone is screwing with her, to put it in those terms.

Wufei grimaces mildly, Maxwell snickers yet again and the other two's eyebrows creases.

"That, would be correct." Wufei responds.

The woman stares at him and her eyes grow hard. Do I have to tell you how grateful I am that I'm not at the receiving end of that look?

"Mr. Chang, I am not amused. I do not appreciate my employees wasting my time with silly jokes. I don't know how you managed to rope Mr. Yuy in on this, but this will be the last time."

"I can completely understand that, but I am speaking the truth."

Lady Une turns her steely gaze from Wufei to his taller companion.

"Barton, you went along with Mr. Chang at this expedition, now, what really is going on here? I assure you, there are much more important, and better, things for me to do than to stand here and listen to imagined stories. So, what really is going on here?"

"I'm afraid, ma'am, that I stand behind Chang on this one."

She stares at him incredulously while Wufei sends Barton a grateful look.

"Excuse me?"

"I know it's hard to believe Lady Une," Winner says, stepping up to back the others. "But please try to have an open mind. Harry is very much real, and needs our help." He adds.

"Harry?"

As one the four that has been working turns in my direction and I can't help but to press my back further into the corner when Lady Une finally focuses her attention on me. She blinks once in surprise, obviously having missed seeing me as she first came into the room. Then her eyes become hard again.

"What is a civilian, a minor at that, doing in this facility? Who brought him in?" She demands to know as she looks around at the males, before turning back to me again as I stare at her wide eyed. "And you, stand up and give me your name boy."

I scramble to my feet, knocking my foot into the other one which (unfortunately?) sends me head first into the table with a small cry. Of course my head being intangible, and most of my body for that matter, goes through it soundlessly and I land on my fours. For a moment I freeze, hearing nothing from the rest of them and then slowly I crawl backwards to stand up without having to go through the table again.

A stunned Lady Une meets my eyes. I grimace at my own clumsiness which led to this, rather, impromptu revelation.

"Sorry, I've always had somewhat bad feet coordination…" I say sheepishly, trailing off as her eyes grow in size and then blink several times. Maxwell looks to be doing his best to hide his laughter behind a hand (and failing miserably at that). I'm impressed he can laugh in this situation.

"Oh my, I-" She starts and then cuts herself off. "An… apparition, you say?" She says, her eyes still focused on me but the question itself is probably meant for Wufei.

Wufei looks both troubled and relieved at the same time. He probably had wanted to break it to her in a more, gentle and orderly fashion before I mucked it all up.

"Harry here is, according to himself and from what I understand myself from my own findings, a four hundred years old soul, or spirit one might say." Wufei reaches a hand out to the stone on the table, subsequently drawing Lady Une's attention to it. "Through some series of past events, he was sealed away in this stone. I believe that, as I was analyzing the script found on it, I accidently somehow set him half-way free."

"Half-way?" Une asks with a mildly bewildered frown. I think she is taking this surprisingly well, considering the circumstances I mean. "What do you mean by half-way?"

"My educated guess is that I, by uttering what little I was able to make out of the script, did not finish the phrase of words needed to complete the process, resulting in Harry's current condition."

He sounds like Hermione, in a more scientifically way, I think absentmindedly, jerking lightly as he addresses me next.

"Harry, is there anything else that you want add?"

I frown slightly at him.

"Uh, I don't think I know much more than you do on this. I told you I never studied ancient runes in school, and only briefly read some about sealing magic. Your guess is as good as mine."

He nods, knowing this already. I'd told him everything I knew of runes and sealing magic, which unfortunately is very little. He is essentially on his own in this even if whom it concerns is a wizard. His frustration is probably only matched by my own sheer inability to fix this myself. I'm stumped in knowing where to go next and relying completely on Wufei to find the answers to my predicament. It was making me feel like a git honestly.

Lady Une asks Wufei many more questions after that, turning to me on occasion to inquiry on other details but I mostly stay out of their hair as they converse. She leaves with a last thoughtful look in my direction which I dodge by looking at one of the volumes in the bookcase. During it all she hasn't mentioned anything about any possible actions that she will take in this matter, however she did give Wufei permission to continue with his research, for now I think. I imagine she needs time to think on the startling news she's been given. I think the only reason she actually believed in Wufei, and me, is because of my little 'show' in front of her and because she obviously trusts him and the others. Maybe Lady Une isn't so bad as I imagined her to be.

Although somewhat relieved to see her leave, my mood is still dampened by the prescence of that other guy, Yuy, who opts to stay. I have my suspicions he wants to keep an eye on me, and though he does seem to want to help the others in some way, I don't think it's because of me he offers his help. Consequently, I find myself back in my corner with whooping number of five adult men now working their way through Wufei's many notes and scribbling down new ones along the way.

It was much later when the men, one by one, left for home, leaving Wufei working alone for a while before he too had to call it a day.

I look up from where I rest my head on my knees, noticing Wufei standing over me.

"I need to go home now, get some sleep, but I will be back early again tomorrow. Will you be okay by yourself?" He asks me with mild hesitation.

I blink at him, suddenly realizing that this was the longest I'd been 'awake', as I'd come to call it, so far and that I have a long night ahead of me. I wasn't feeling tired at all, strangely enough.

"Go, I'll be fine." I say with an encouraging enough smile, pushing away the smaller part of me that wants him to stay.

I watch him walk back over to his desk, collecting some papers and tapping a few keys to turn the computer off.

I glance curiously at him as he leaves one light on.

"I'll leave the desk lamp on for you." He says by the door, a bag and coat in one hand. He seems to hesitate again for the shortest of moments before he murmurs softly. "Good night Harry."

"Good night." I say, and the door closes.

I look up into the ceiling with a low sigh.

I end up spending most of that night fingering and twirling my wand, angling the wood in the sheen of light from the desk lamp. Even after being awake for more than a normal day I'm not feeling in the least tired. The newfound fact only serves to make me annoyed and all the more gloomy. I said I would be fine to Wufei, but even a 'spirit', or whatever I was, is bound to suffer boredom if left alone long enough with practically nothing to do.

I can't touch anything (except myself and wand) since I was intangible, and so I was only able to read whatever texts were visible in the available light, which amounted to fifty minutes of slow reading. I can't leave the room because of the invisible wall preventing me from taking too many steps away from the tablet, so I couldn't even take a midnight stroll to relieve some of my pent up energy. This resulted in an hour of some weirdly constructed stretches and gymnastics to relieve some of that energy. Another one was spent swishing my hand lazily through the neck of the desklamp.

Maybe it's the tediousness, probably, but almost without me knowing I fall asleep sometime during that night.

* * *

A month.

More than a month has gone past and Chang is growing more and more frustrated by each passing day. They are making such slow progress in the research of the script that if it hadn't been for his own sheer stubbornness, some very good friends and Harry himself (which he was doing all this for) he would consider laying it all to a rest already. He has grown unexpectedly fond of the boy, and knows that the rest has caught up on it. The boy is quite likable, with an amusing quirked sense of humor when not caught in one of his more 'teenage angst moments' which Maxwell calls them. Yuy has slowly come around, if slower than the rest of them, and accepted Chang's wish to help the boy, if only because they have been friends for a very long time. To Wufei, as long as the others are willing to offer their help he is grateful. He can't ask for much more than that. Heaven knows he really need their help now.

He knows he's running out of time, not that Harry is going to disappear anytime soon, or at least so he wants to believe, but Lady Une has been letting him know that she isn't going to allow this to take much more time out of his regular work schedule for much longer. Understandable from her point of view, but it doesn't make him any happier. He's frustrated, among many things, to notice the boy growing more and more resigned when repeatedly given reports of no results. Chang is worried about the boy's waning optimism towards Chang's continuous failures. Others more than just him has taken notice of the boy's smile growing more strained, still trying to smile as if not wanting to show Chang that the boy was slowly losing his hope. Chang's ineptitude to get any closer to helping the boy aggravates him. He wants so much to help Harry but his own limited knowledge is preventing him from doing so.

As if the rest wasn't enough, Chang has become aware that he is receiving looks whenever in the cafeteria for lunch. The cause of that is most probably because of the rumors that have begun to spread amongst the employees. He realizes that many was bound to grow curious of the reason as to why the former Gundam pilots were all secluding themselves at lengthy intervals in Chang's office. He has had to chase away more than a few stragglers that has tried to catch a sight of what was going on behind his closed door. It's getting highly annoying really, but he can't go to Lady Une to complain about it. She's already close enough to outright ordering him to quit the whole thing. His frustrations is at an all high since she refused his request to move the stone to his own home in hopes of being able to continue with his research even if at a drastically slower pace. He thought working on the stone at home was better than not being able to work on it at all, as he would be doing so outside of designated work hours. She would not allow it though for reasons unknown to him. But they surely were of the nature of secrecy or not wanting it to get out to the public that Lady Une was allowing her Preventers to work on something considered as supernatural or occult. She worked hard on building up the organization's image and reputation, and she wasn't about to risk any negative damage to fall on the organization. The reasons were legible, yet all the same still so very frustrating.

Chang was on his way back to his office from another session with Lady Une, walking along the hallway when he sees something that he has fought so hard to prevent for a while now. His door is slightly ajar and standing with their hand on the knob is a middle-aged man, going by the name Ferguson. Chang's blood chills as he realizes whom that man has to be spying on. He knows Harry is in that room, in his visible form, having woken up just a few hours earlier. He hopes against all, that the man hasn't witnessed anything of Harry's less than 'normal' condition. But judging from the stunned wide open eyes and slack jaw, Chang believes his hope is for naught.

He has to convince, or rather force, Ferguson not to spread his newfound knowledge about the boy. The older man, noticing Chang's approach backs away from the door with badly hidden embarrassment at being caught in the act seen across his features. Ferguson flicks his beady eyes nervously around the area as Chang come up to him, probably worried about the lack of people except for the two.

Chang has always thought Ferguson a bit strange, or rather eccentric in his ways. For one, the man has a tendency to wear oddly colored and mismatched socks every now and then. Chang normally don't pay much attention to the other man and has only spoken to him on two occasions after which he deemed the man of no interest to himself.

Ferguson was eyeing him with fearful apprehension and Chang could imagine that his expression wasn't so pleasant, or benign, at the moment. Not that Chang cared.

"Ferguson, did you happen to want something, or have you already found what you were looking for on your own?" He asked scathingly.

"Chang!" Ferguson let out with a squeak. "I- I was, I was, looking for you! Wanted to ask you something. Your door, you see, it was already open and I knocked, of course, I knocked, but you weren't in and I thought it best to wait, erm, for you." The man stammered out, eyes averted and wringing his hands.

Chang was less than impressed with the man's obvious lie. He never left his door ajar for one. Second, he hadn't spoken to the man in ages, not since he first started at the Preventers in fact and that was just a polite hello. His expression let the man know his feelings on the matter and they both knew that Chang didn't believe a single word of what the man had just told him.

Chang reaches past Ferguson, grasping the knob and none too gently shut door closed, making the man flinch at the sound.

He releases the knob slowly, standing up straight and looks at the door.

"If I hear even a word, of what you happened to see inside this room," A seconds pause. "I won't hesitate reporting you first thing to Lady Une. I'm sure she will be most interested in knowing one of her employees has issues with respecting their fellow colleague's work and privacy."

Ferguson's face grows blotched with red at the veiled threat.

"Something like this must,-!"

"_Not a word_." Chang interrupts the man mid sentence with a harsh glare.

Ferguson's mouth twitches and he seems to hesitate before turning on his heel and hurrying down the corridor.

Chang follows the man with his eyes until he disappears around the corner and out of sight.

He feels unease after the incident with Ferguson. Maybe it wasn't that wise to let the man off that easily, but then again he didn't think the man would do much with anything that he found out. The man was annoying and has an ego, sure, but otherwise harmless. Hopefully the warning would be sufficient to keep his mouth shut.

The worry stays with him and it doesn't get better when he doesn't see Ferguson for a whole week, although still no new rumors. Chang assumes that Ferguson has taken a leave off work or is doing his best to avoid Chang.

As Chang opens and enters his office, he has no idea what that little meeting will bring upon them, or on Harry.

* * *

I know something is wrong the moment I come to. The unfamiliar voices, the faces of strangers and an upset sounding Wufei has me immediately on edge. A group of six, several men and one woman, swarms around the door opening, at the moment only being held back by a mightily pissed off Heero who has the closest one at gun point. Trowa stands to the side besides Heero, while Quatre and Duo make out the left flank. Standing practically in front of me, is Wufei, looking like he was shielding the tablet from the intruders. Who are they?

"Wufei? What's going on?" I ask, trying to keep the anxiousness at bay while taking notice of the, very, obvious tension in the room.

Wufei spins around at the sound of my voice, his face morphing from an angry expression to a much worried one as he opens his mouth to speak to me.

"Harry-"

"_Harry Potter_!"

I jerk involuntarily at the loud shout; my eyes switching to the other group having not really taken them in until now. There's mild shock as I process the very familiar clothing they're wearing. In particular of what they are all now clutching in their hands.

Wands. Those people are wand carrying and robes wearing wizards and witches.

"Minister, that must be him!" The woman, dressed in blue robes with dark brown hair cries enthusiastically, looking from me to a slightly taller and lanky man with thinning, light brown hair wearing a red robe and a ridiculous orange bowtie. Their fashion senses are as bad as ever I note with dawning realization as to their identities.

Reeling with the shock, my heart begins beating wildly inside my ribcage. I start to think that these people are here to help me, help me finally get free of that awful stone. Their British accents I just dimly observe and for the moment I forget to question how they found me here, or why they haven't come until now. I know Wufei has worked so hard to help me but I know that these people, being wizards, could do more to help me or they would know someone that had knowledge in sealing magic. The smile that starts on my face falters however, when my inner thoughts slows down long enough to take in what they are actually saying.

"The Savior…" Says the man behind the woman, with badly hidden reverence in his voice.

"'Savior?'" Duo repeats incredulously with a deep frown and he is not alone in his confusion by the looks of the others.

My excitement dies down at that dreaded title. I hate that title. The only ones who ever used it where the cowards, who hid in their own homes, even if they were capable of fighting, while I, my friends and the others stood up and fought to protect ourselves and our loved ones.

"The day has finally come my friends," The man addressed earlier as minister exclaims as he turns around to face his companions, or employees more exactly. "The day when we can once again be set free from our fears and horrors. The savior of legend will once again vanquish the evils threatening our world." His words are met with hopeful smiles and loud excited murmurings.

The man turns to look at me and I take a step back at the mere look on his face. A borderline crazed look, with wide eyes that bore into me. I shudder visibly. He stares at me, watches me like I am some, some, _thing_ he wants dig his hands into.

"Minister," One of the other men, an Auror from the looks of his robes, though they have clearly changed a bit since the last time I saw them, says urgently. "The seal, the seal has almost been broken. I can see it. Those muggles must have done something; we have to retrieve it before they accidently complete it."

The Minister's, now very upset, eyes narrows dangerously.

"The stone," He calls out hurriedly, waving his wand-hand jerkily at the man who spoke and beckoning at another. "We must take the stone and bring it back to the ministry and finish the unsealing there. We cannot let the muggles get control of him!"

Control of him? What did they mean control? Control me? The sealing magic, did those that sealed me put on some sort of compulsion charms, I think with rising horror of the implications that would mean for me.

Before the two men has even a chance to move, to make a grab at the stone that is lying on the table amongst papers, Wufei has already within a few seconds swept it off the table and clutches it securely against his chest. He steps back, his eyes searching over his shoulder, locking with mine, then he comes to stand protectively in front of me again.

"You will not take him." Wufei says determinedly.

I stare, taken aback, into the back of Wufei's head. My brain registers what he just said and immense relief washes through me. He won't let them take me. I don't want them to take me away, I cry earnestly in reply inside.

"Wufei…" I breathe out, my hands trying to grasp at his shirt only to feel the air.

"This is not something for stupid muggles to _play_ with." The Minister spits out with disgust. "We will have the stone, of course we will. That stone is the rightful property of the British Ministry of Magic, and as the Minister of Magic I have all the right to claim it. So give it here!"

My stomach drops with cold disbelief and dread.

"_Property_?" I echo dimly while Wufei's eyes sparks with anger.

"He's not anyone's property!"

"Give us the stone!"

"Shut up you assholes! We said you're not taking him!" Duo jumps in angrily.

"I've had enough of this, just obliviate them and get it over with." The Minister bits out in stressed annoyance.

I blink and watch as the wizards raise their wands.

"No!" I call out, rushing past Wufei, his hands grasping for me, while I accidently brush through Trowa's right shoulder in my attempt to get to the front to block them. "You will not hurt them!"

The witches and wizards ogle me, dazed, and many staring at me with hesitant awe, before the Minister rouses himself out of his shocked stupor.

"Harry Potter," He says, smiling eagerly. "We are taking you back to where you belong, yes of course, as the once Savior of our people! You will fight the evil threatening us once again. You will. You will save us." He stresses and continues on as he turns towards his people again. "The stone, we will have the stone, now! What are you waiting for? They're only _muggles_!"

My stunned eyes grow hard with anger outraged disbelief. Who are these people who think they can just pop up, and do whatever they want with Wufei, with my new friends? Has wizarding Britain's attitude towards muggles become as awful as their sense of fashion?

"I never was, and never will, be the Ministry's property!" I cry vehemently.

The woman cries out in fright while the Minister splutters.

"You won't touch them!" I yell at the group, whipping out my own wand from my pocket, forgetting how useless it actually is now, but the Aurors don't know that and so they immediately freeze in response. There is actual fear visible in their faces. It should bother me more, but I can't bring myself to calm down, to rein in my anger, my own fear for losing Wufei and the others getting hurt fueling it.

"If you so much as jinx them, I will curse you all." I hiss threateningly.

"Harry Potter…" The Minister pushes out weakly through his fear, which he tries to hide beneath a good amount of forced confidence of his position. "You're meant to _save_ _us_."

Now why doesn't that surprise me?

"Save yourselves for a change!" I throw back.

They jerk back in fearful bafflement.

"No…the muggles, it's the _muggles,_" The Minister tries again, grasping at the sleeve of one of the men. "They've done something; don't you see it? It's not the _real_ Savior speaking. He wouldn't say such dreadful things! They must have damaged him, the soul, with their foolish _experimenting_!" He spits out with a nasty grimace. "The proof is right in front of us; the body is clearly unstable and cannot properly hold the soul. He shouldn't be able to use his magic. Quickly, the stone, before they do any more damage to it!"

It all happens so fast. Before I know it, one wizard has hit Heero with a stunner, the gun slipping from his grip limply and he falls to the floor just as ropes come out to bind Duo, who lets out a surprised cry, landing on the floor after losing his balance.

"Let me go you bastards!"

Quatre who tries to reach Duo is stopped midway with another spell of ropes and trips with a thump on his side.

"Stop it!" I yell at them but I'm met with deaf ears.

I can't do anything. They're hurting them and I can't do anything to stop it. They were going to hurt Trowa and Wufei too.

They were going to hurt Wufei…

"No!" Wufei calls out.

With a flick of his wand the Minister summons the stone out of Wufei's arms, and fear grips my heart as I watch the man clutch the stone in his gnarly hands with a victorious smirk.

I gasp when I feel something tugging at my body, tugging at my very core. I look up, the minister's eyes are glued on the tablet. No. He's reading the runes on the stone. Don't read them!

I start feeling weak, stumbling until my legs can't hold me up anymore. I slump to my knees, catching myself on my arms and then watch with growing terror as my limbs start to fade.

"Harry!" I hear Wufei calling out, moving towards me before he and Trowa, who is making a beeline for the stone, are both hit with an immobility curse.

After such a long time of feeling no real fatigue, or having the need to eat or use of normal bodily functions, I'm immensely scared at the feeling of having my raw energy trickle right out of me. My right arm gives out under me and I fall on my side limply. I can see the floor through my arms now.

"…wufei…" I gasp out weakly, voice hoarse, the fear laced within my voice. Wufei's dark eyes pierces mine in disbelief and helplessness as he struggles against the invisible holds on his body, twisting to and fro.

"Harry, don't!" He shouts at me. "Come on, you got to fight it!"

"…sorry…I'm …sorry…" I whisper and it hurts so much to see the pain reflected in his dark eyes.

In that moment I'm sure that if I go to sleep, then I will never see Wufei again. The wizards will have obliviated them all, making them forget all about me. Wufei won't look for me because he won't remember me anymore.

"…don't.. forget me…please…don't!" I whisper desperately.

Is this how it ends? Trapped in stone, experiencing a brief sense of freedom only to fall into the grasp of those that wants me for nothing else but to do their dirty work against my own will? Why could life never be fair, just for once?

Several cries erupts from behind my back. I frown tiredly, watching Wufei's eyes go wide, before I hear a large smash against the floor.

"_You bloody muggle_! What have you done?!" A man cries brokenly.

Something heavy slams into my back, digging into it and making me gasp violently for the sudden influx of cold air in my lungs. I wheeze loudly, somewhat aware of the cries, the grunts and the sound of bodies moving around behind me.

"Stop them you idiots!"

A loud snap.

"You-! Wand, my wand!"

"Minister!"

One crack tears through the air before several others follow suit.

Why is it so hard to breath?

"Quatre, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just winded. Heero?"

"Fine. I'll go check on Barton and Chang."

From the corner of my eye I see Heero come into view, bending down over Wufei's form. Wasn't he stunned? Did he recover already from it?

"What is this?" Heero asks with a small frown as he obviously can't see anything visible that is preventing Wufei from moving.

Instead of answering though, Wufei arches his head around Heero's knee and nods towards me.

"Yuy, please check on Harry first, something's wrong with him. The stone was smashed; I don't know what happened to him." He says with anxious worry. His eyes meet mine but all I can do at the moment is continue wheezing and gasping for breath. Why can't I breathe no matter how hard I try?

"Harry? Hey buddy- whoa!"

My eyes widen with shock and I stiffen.

A hand. Just now that must have been a hand on my back, and I'd felt it.

"I touched him." An astonished Duo murmurs behind me.

"What?" Wufei grunts with effort, still struggling against his bindings and growling with frustration as they won't let go. "Harry? Harry!"

I stare at Wufei, feeling pure disbelief as our eyes meet. That is until my chest starts burning and I realize that I've stopped breathing all together. I panic, inhaling deeply which only hurt my lungs more and I make an awful loud and high pitched wheeze.

"Harry!" Wufei shouts.

"Shit, he's panicking." Duo swears loudly.

A pair of hands grab me, making me flinch at the sudden contact but they resolutely pull me up against a firm chest. My left arm jerks and trembles terribly, my eyes tearing up from the pain of the strain and burn in my lungs and throat. Hurried steps comes up and then Quatre is kneeling down in front of me, reaching out and clasping my face in his warm hands as he gently lifts my face up.

"He's cold. Too cold." Quatre says with concerned eyes, before schooling his expression into a calm one. "Harry, you need to focus on your breathing, okay?" He urges me.

"…_don_…_re_…_me_…" I whimper, closing my eyes as the tears drip onto my cheeks and slip down over Quatre's hands.

Quatre frowns.

"You don't _remember_? You mean how to breathe?" Quatre's voice sounds disbelieving even in my own ears.

I try erratically to breathe, only resulting in more hurtful wheezes. It hurts so much, like I'm ripping my lungs apart.

I shake my head jerkily.

"Hey, hey, listen, feel how I breathe?" Duo responds gently.

I try to feel for it and I can feel the slowly moving chest pressed up against my back. The contrasts between Duo's even and calm breathing to my own strained and inconsistent one becomes awfully vivid to me.

"Try and match mine, okay? We're gonna do this together, don't worry. Everything's gonna be fine."

"…_urts_…"

"We know." Quatre replies soothingly. "He's still not getting enough air." He says to Duo over my shoulder.

"I want this thing _off_." Wufei says, twisting angrily.

"…_u..fei_…"

"Harry, I'm here."

A spasm rips through my body, making me tense my muscles in reflex and clench my teeth together. Someone curses loudly in response to my muffled cry. I know I have to make myself breath properly, soon, force myself to calm down and take in just enough air into the lungs before letting it out. Then repeat the process. I know that, but my body won't do what I tell it to do. I can't do this by myself!

My wand. Where is my wand?

I lift a shaking hand and trails it, jerking it, along the floor, feeling for the wood.

"What is it?" Quatre asks with a worried frown.

"…_an..d_."

"What?" Duo queries.

"…_wa..nd_.."

"It's his wand." Wufei explains hurriedly. "He must have dropped it."

"Where?" Duo responds and then says with some surprise. "Heero?"

A calloused hand takes mine and then a familiar piece of wood is pressed into my palm. Warmth instantly spreads out into my body and calms me just a little. As long as I have my wand, as long as I have it, I'm not completely helpless.

Quatre watches me hesitantly as I raise my arm slowly, excruciatingly so, searching and then finding Wufei again with my eyes where he lays on his side just a bit away. Focusing my mind, I flick the wand once, nearly dropping it. Nothing happens. I sob, trying a second time, pushing my whole strength into it and with a small sound of surprise Wufei's limbs fall loose from where they were stuck to his sides. It takes him only a moment to scramble to his feet and Quatre silently makes room for him after which a pair of dark eyes catches my own.

"You're going to be okay." Wufei assures me, taking my other hand in his two.

"Wufei, he seriously needs to get a control of his breathing. Like _now_. " Duo says, the hands on my shoulders tightening.

"His lips are turning blue." Quatre informs them worriedly.

Wufei nods, fear clouded in his eyes, though he's doing his best to hide it from me.

"You know how to breathe Harry." He tells me.

I frown at him.

"You do. You're just out of practice." He reasons, making an effort to sound calm.

The corner of my mouth quirks in response, despite the situation. That was one way of putting it. I've gone without practice for an awful long time then haven't I?

After what feel like hours, I become aware of my lungs gradually stop feeling like they are going to burn up. My throat relaxing, along with my body stopping the worst of the trembles. Then, finally, I can feel my chest moving almost in rhythm with Duo's.

My head falls back to rest against Duo's shoulder, my body going slack and staring tiredly into the ceiling with Wufei's hand holding mine tightly. The crying's stopped, thank Merlin for that. My eyes feels all sore and bloated though.

"I'm sorry." I whisper hoarsely, making most of the group around me let out a sigh of relief.

"What for?" Wufei asks with a warm smile.

"Everything." I swallow. "They were, going to hurt you, because of me..."

"Ah, no biggie, we can take care of ourselves." Duo replies lightly. "Right guys?"

Quatre smiles reassuringly and I catch Trowa nod in assent where he syands beside Heero, briefly surprised to see him standing there, hadn't he been shot with an immobility curse too?

"'m so tired…" I murmur, my eyes already half closed as I say this.

"Harry?"

"He'll be fine Wufei. He just needs some sleep..." I hear Quatre say dimly before I drift off into a tired slumber.

* * *

**AN:** One chapter left and then we will have the conclusion of this story. How are you liking it so far? Please let me know! Until next time! Lin


	4. The Conviction

**Disclaimers: **I do not own either Harry Potter or Gundam Wing; they both belong to their respective owners, J. K. Rowling and Sunrise.

**Summary: **In the highlands of Scotland arrives an archeological expedition led by Wufei Chang in search of traces of a Germanic people supposedly long lost in time and history.

**Pairing: **Harry+Wufei+Harry (mild)

**Warnings: SLASH. OOC(ness?), not-so-accurate-and-playing-around-with-history, **switches between **Harry POV/third person perspective. AU** for HP after book seven and excluding the epilogue, and for GW after the whole series and the Endless Waltz OVA.

**Author's Notes: **This is the last one guys. The final chapter and the final conclusion. I hope you will like it.

* * *

Written in Stone

* * *

_'A stone is ingrained with geological and historical memories.'_

- Andy Goldsworthy

* * *

I pry my, still very much so sleepy eyes open, blinking and scrunching my eyebrows together in confusion.

Where am I?

Pushing myself up I yawn automatically and a white blanket tumbles down to pool in my lap. I touch it lightly, pausing to blink again, and then a big smile widens on my face as I trace my fingertips across the soft cotton. It wasn't a dream. I really can touch things again.

I swing my legs off the side, noticing curiously that I'm dressed in a pale pastel green pants and shirt outfit, before I splay my feet on the beige rubber floor. I stretch out my toes with a growing grin as the coolness of the floor seeps into the warm soles of my feet.

"I see you're awake." The soft tone of a woman's voice interrupts my musing.

I glance up, seeing an older blonde woman, dressed in a white muggle doctor's coat and a black knee skirt with a simple pale blue blouse on top.

"The floor is cold!" I say with perhaps embarrassingly childish glee, and she quirks one corner of her mouth in amusement of my reaction.

She comes up to the bed, pulling over a short metal stool on the way and sits herself down in front of me. A clipboard is picked up from a side table.

"I'm Dr. Poe." She introduces herself.

"Harry."

"I know." She replies with a small wink before adopting a more serious look. "You seem fine but I'm going to check anyway. Do you feel any tingles in your feet, or anywhere else in your body Harry?" She asks, motioning to me and I raise my foot diligently. She removes a pen from her chest pocket and then prods the skin underneath the foot.

I laugh lightly.

"That tickles. No, no strange tingles. I feel great. Really." I assure her.

A small nod and then she pricks me gently over the other foot, gesturing for a hand and repeating the motions. I shake my head at her questioning looks at which she always only give a nod. I take it as a good thing, even though she doesn't say anything while examining me. She pockets the pen and then stands so she can reach and place her hand on my temples, feeling around my head, behind the ears, the jaw and neck. I let her work obediently, remembering that muggle doctors don't have simple diagnostic spells at hand like us wizards so it will naturally take a longer time for them to check a patient.

About that, I wonder if she has been told any of that, as in my background. Would Wufei have told her because she was the doctor?

"I don't think I have had an examination like this since I was five or six years old." I say after while, almost as an afterthought.

She pauses and then eyes me with a small frown, before I realize how that must have sounded to her.

"You haven't been to a doctor since you were six?" She reprimands me while appearing mildly outraged at the same time.

"Not to a muggle doctor, no! But we did have a healer at the school." I reply quickly with a shake of the head.

"Muggle?" She asks confused, frowning more deeply.

"Uhm…" I flounder. Whoops, so she hasn't been told yet? Or maybe she wasn't supposed to be told? Great Harry. But she knew my name, but that didn't really matter did it. Didn't mean she would have been told _everything_.

Just as I start to think that I must have mucked up again she loses her frown.

"Ah," Her eyes light up, a small knowing smile seeing the look on my face. "This wouldn't happen to have something to do with this, _magic_ thing, Mr. Chang's told me about?" She says while going back to the examination.

"So you know then?" I breathe out a sigh of relief. "Thought I mucked up royally just then. Uh, sorry." I add sheepishly.

"That's alright." She says with a laugh. "So what does muggle mean?" She adds curiously.

She pulls out a stethoscope and I pull up the shirt as instructed.

"Means someone without magic; someone who is not a wizard or witch." I recite from memory, and shiver lightly as the small and cold round metal lands on my chest.

She hums in acknowledgement, listening to the beats of my heart.

"I understand that you had a panic episode; where you experienced trouble breathing?" She says, moving the metal piece.

"Yeah, I'm not sure, but I think it had been so long since I actually breathed normally that I just sort of, forgot how at first." I say, taking in the infirmary room attentively now that I wasn't confined to just Wufei's office.

She looks at me with another expression of mild astonishment.

"You forgot how to breathe?"

I can tell she doesn't get patients telling her that often.

I shrug.

"It _has_ been four hundred years." I say, pouting lightly.

"Right." She says at length. "I almost forgot about that for moment."

"Could you breathe in deeply for me?" She listens, having me move around so she can do the same to the back. "And one more time..."

I take a lungful of air and then let it slowly.

She takes out the stethoscope earpieces.

"Well, everything seems to be in order. You're a very healthy young man, circumstances and all considered." She adds with a quirk of the mouth, replacing the stethoscope to hang around her neck.

"So I'm free to go?" I ask, already halfway out of the bed before she raises a hand to halt me.

"Not so fast young man. I still want you under observation for a day or two, minimum. You could experience belated symptoms, there's the issue of diseases and flu viruses as well that you haven't come into contact before since you _are_ quite a unique case." She gives me a certain look. "I would like to give you a couple of vaccine shots before letting you out into world. I wouldn't want you coming down with something we could have easily prevented."

I grumble and sit down on the bed again. Why did healers or doctors always have to sound like they were always right? (The fact that she happens to be right is just beside the point here.)

"But I feel just fine." I complain petulantly as she moves towards her desk and sits down in front of a slim computer.

"She will tell you 'because it's for your own good' Harry." I whip around and spot Duo with a large smile plastered on his face, leaning against the door frame, as he winks at the doctor. "Hi there Sally, how fares our little magic duckling."

The woman raises an eyebrow in response, somehow not seeming surprised at his prescence, while I frown at the nickname. _Magic duckling_? Really?

"Mr. Maxwell. Harry will be fine; I'm only going to give a couple vaccine shots and keep him for observation a day or two."

"Well, that sucks." Duo quips.

She levels a semi stern glance at the man before going back to her typing.

"Ten minutes Mr. Maxwell."

"Understood!" Duo salutes her as he plunks down at the foot of my bed.

He waits until she turns around again before he leans forward, shielding his mouth conspiratorially from her. I can't help but to lean forward with a curious look.

"It's all a conspiracy if you ask me. Giving shots is just their way of tormenting us innocent patients, and I think she just keeps people under 'observation'" Here he flips two fingers on his left hand down. "Because she's lonely, you know? I know I would if I was cooped up in this place all day..."

Sally coughs pointedly behind his back.

Duo straightens up quickly again.

"Well anyway, tough luck buddy!" Duo says a little louder, chuckling nervously, clapping me repeatedly on the shoulder.

"Where's Wufei?" I ask and then frown mildly at the grin that creeps onto Duo's face.

"Miss him already?" He asks, grin still in place.

I feel my cheeks warm slightly in response for some obscure reason I can't seem to grasp at the moment.

"Just wondering where he is." I say quickly, confused by my own reaction.

Duo eyes me a bit longer, almost making me squirm in my place, until he sighs and leans back again.

"Unfortunately Lady Une has him on suspension."

I frown.

"Suspension?"

Duo hums, looking around before his eyes catches my expression, and then he quickly shakes his head with a small chuckle.

"Oh, don't worry, it's nothing serious. Wuffers just managed to get on the Lady's nerves a bit too much earlier today, so she sent him home to get him out of her hair. Not her exact words, but that was the gist of it." He snickers.

"What did he do?"

"Don't know. Wouldn't say, just stormed off home. I'm sure he will be back tomorrow again. You can ask him yourself then." Duo replies and stood up. "Sorry to say, but I gotta leave now, still have a report to type and turn in, in the," He throws a glance at his wristwatch, which I can see is showing three in the afternoon. "Next three hours."

"Why am I not surprised…" Sally murmurs from across the room.

Duo flashes her a smile, even though she can't see it, and turns back to me again.

"Great to see you up and awake again buddy. I'll pop in again tomorrow if I have the time!" He says with a wave of the hand.

"Thanks Duo!" I manage to call back just before he disappears out the door in a rush.

I look at Sally quietly before I sigh, resigned with the prospect of boredom awaiting me, and flop back down on the bed, letting the woman continue with her work.

I glance to the small stand on the right where my wand lies. I reach out and bring it up to my face, running my fingers along the wood once, before I put it back on the stand. I turn around and stare out the window at the clear blue sky.

* * *

"He was going to be gone for one day right? Not two days." I ask no one in particular to the empty room. "Should have said something if he was gonna be gone longer than that." I murmur the last part, pursing my mouth.

I finger the hem of the blanket, tugging at a loose thread which has kept me occupied for the last hour or so, I think. Keeping track of the clock just makes the time go even slower so I try and avoid doing that for my own mind's sake.

"Or sent a note." I continue with a jerk of the head. "Muggles have those portable phones right? Dudley had one, and several broken ones. I'm sure you were supposed to be able to send messages with them. I mean if muggles had them _then_, surely they would have something similar, or better I imagine, now."

The interruption comes mid-rant with the opening of the door and I look up with ever hopeful eyes (despite half-expecting to see Dr. Poe), that widen instantly as I spot a pair of dark eyes and black hair. I'm out of my bed (somehow managing not to get my legs caught up in the blanket), rushing across the floor and surprising myself by throwing my arms around Wufei before he even has a chance to open his mouth. The actual sensations of finally being able to do this, actually touch him, is somewhat overwhelming at first, never before in my life would I have thought something simple as a hug could feel this good (even more so, since I have never been a fan of them before and the fact that I instigated it).

I press my face into his shirt, if possible trying to get even closer. An arm wounds around my back in response and a large hand cups the back of my head, a thumb stroking gently against the hair tresses. A tingle of warmth races down my spine, warming my chest, and I curl my fingers into the fabric of his shirt. This is, really nice.

After a while there is a chuckle, or maybe two, and I realize with belated embarrassment that Wufei didn't come alone. Not wanting them to show my surely red face, I push it into his shirt.

"This is the first time I've ever seen you hug anyone Fei, willingly anyway, wouldn't believe it if I wasn't here to witness the special occasion myself." The unmistaken voice of Duo reaches my ears, and for some reason that tingle is there again to tickle the inside of my chest and stomach area.

"Maxwell." Wufei replies with some annoyance, followed with a sigh, and I can feel his chest moving as he speaks. "Didn't you have someplace else to be at the moment? If I recall correctly; something to do with the briefing of your new assignment?"

"Oh, that. Nah, it's okay, I have enough time to see you two off before I head over to that. They wouldn't dare start it without me anyway. I got all the lil'newbies wrapped around my little finger." He retorts with tell-tale smugness.

"Is that so? I fear for the Preventers' future then."

Wufei lets me go with his arms, for a brief second I consider holding on before the prescence of company have me slackening my fingers and arms fall to my side as I step back. I look over his shoulder to see Duo and Trowa standing behind him.

"Uh, thanks for helping me." I say, smoothing down the pants to have something to occupy my hands with. "You know, for that last time." I add, seeing the bemused looks.

"Aw shucks, don't mention it. All part of the job." Duo grins and waves me off.

Trowa sends a small smile. "You're welcome."

"How are you feeling?" Wufei asks and takes a closer at my appearance. "I heard you had to take some vaccine shots."

"Yeah, but I'm fine, things considered." I answer with a shrug. I stop myself from asking about the wizards, still not really wanting to talk about them. "'See you two off?'" I ask instead.

"No one's told you yet?" Duo asks surprised. I shake my head at which he smiles widely. "Good news buddy, you're getting out of this place today!"

"Oh!" I reply surprised. "Right, yeah, of course, can't stay here forever right?" I say with a light laugh, scratching the back of my head while trying not to show the worries I've been feeling about it.

Like wondering where I will go. I know I had to leave this place sometime, but I haven't really wanted to think about it properly yet. I just didn't think it was going to be this soon, thought I had more time, but of course, there's no reason for me to stay here any longer now is there? Now that I'm alright and all, in their eyes anyway. Technically speaking I'm a civilian aren't I, and there's no room for a civilian in a place like this. I'm not bound to the stone anymore, so I guess that leaves me free to go wherever I want now, huh? But did I want to go back to England? Not really, too many memories and people that I will never see again. I think going to England would just make it harder for me to adjust. I haven't even seen how the outside looks like now. Will things have changed; of course they would have, but how much? Will I recognize things or will they be completely different?

What about those wizards from before? Would they try and contact me again or had they given up on catching me? I haven't heard anything from them since then, but who's to say they won't track me down as soon as I get out and far enough from the Preventers. They were desperate enough back then to reveal themselves so blatantly in front of muggles. Somehow, I wouldn't put it past them to do something like that again.

"Before we leave," Wufei cut in, looking back over his shoulder to his taller friend. "We need you to change into other clothes."

Trowa holds out a travelling bag to me. Taking it I curiously flip the lid open with a hand and peek inside.

"This is for me?" I ask as I take out a dark green patterned cardigan, spotting a pair of black trousers and a white t-shirt at the bottom. A pair of shoes and socks is also in there. I look up at the three.

"I figured you could need some new ones. Your old ones are still usable if you would like to wear those instead. We packed them in there as well for you." Wufei says.

I shake my head with a growing smile.

"No, these are great." I say, not mentioning that I could count on one hand how many people had bought me new clothes.

"Go change and we'll wait for you right outside. After that we're leaving for my apartment."

I pause to look up at Wufei in surprise.

"Are you saying, that I'm going to stay at your apartment?"

"Of course." He replies with a warm smile. "Where else did you think you would be staying?"

The smile spreads so fast that I can't decide if I'm feeling happy or relieved that I won't just be dumped somewhere.

"I'll try and be quick!" I call out as I turn around to run to the bathroom to change.

* * *

As they walk down the hallway of Wufei's apartment, he catches the dark haired teen peering around curiously at the various knick-knacks on the shelves lining most of the walls of the hallway. Knick-knacks that the man has managed to collect from his many expeditions during recent years. The boy reaches a hand out towards one, a handmade figurine of Chinese heritage, before quickly pulling it back again, as if struck by a sudden afterthought and flicking his eyes in Wufei's direction somewhat guiltily. Without stopping or commenting, Wufei walks ahead until he pauses outside a door at the end, waiting for the teen to catch up with him.

"I hope you won't mind staying in the study, I had a proper bed put in for you." He says as he pushes open the door, revealing a neat and tidy room with a whole wall stocked full with an assortment of books from many ages and historical periods. "I'm sorry to say that the apartment is too small for a guest bedroom. I haven't really had a need for it until now, so never bothered with changing apartments." He adds, looking down on the teen.

"Won't I be in the way? Of your work?" Harry replies unsure.

"I do most of my work at the Preventers."

"Oh." Harry's eyes cast down before moving across the room, spotting a lone bed against the far wall. "Well, thanks, for letting me stay here." He says clutching the small overnight bag he'd received earlier in one hand. It contained all the necessities he would need.

"There's no need to thank me." Wufei says with a small smile.

The boy steps into the room and deposits the bag at the foot of the bed.

"Sleep well." Wufei offers, grasping the door knob.

The boy looks back at the man over his shoulder, opening his mouth as if to say something but instead just smiles.

"Yeah," Harry replies, watching as the man closes the door with a soft thud. "…you too."

* * *

Barton finds a pensive Wufei in the cafeteria during an afternoon break, a week after Harry's dismissal from the Preventers' infirmary, perusing a daily newspaper with as much attention he would a sports news cast, meaning none. The taller man raises a speculative eyebrow at the behavior of his fellow colleague and friend, before stepping up and taking the opposite him.

"You seem distracted." Barton says after a moment of silence.

Wufei looks up with an expression of surprise of seeing Barton, only proving the friend's earlier statement. Shrugging of the momentarily surprise and shaking his head he folds up the newspaper.

"It's nothing." He replies, pushing the paper to the side and picking up his, now lukewarm, cup of coffee. Wufei frowns mildly at the taste before setting the cup down again. He ponders getting a new one briefly but decides not to in the end. He'll probably end up letting that one go lukewarm too anyway.

Barton doesn't reply, waiting for the man to clarify.

Wufei seems to mull it over, tapping the mug with an index finger, and then he focuses his gaze at the friend once more.

"At least I think it's nothing."

"What is?" Barton asks patiently.

"Harry."

"What about him?"

"He's restless, appears to be growing more so each day in fact when I think about it. I have let him have free reign over all the entertainment utilities to prevent just that, like the TV and access to the Internet, but I have only ever seen him reading a book from the study. Well, except for that one time at the start of the week when he went through all the channels on the TV before shutting it off and never touching it again. He hasn't laid his hands on the computer at all, although he did say he didn't know how to use one. Come to think about it, I haven't seen him use his magic _once_ since the incident with those other, wizards." Wufei finishes with a not so hidden tone of frustration.

Barton blinks once, slowly, at the amount of words that rushed forth from the other man, mildly astonished since he had never seen the man like this before.

"Perhaps he just needs more time to adjust." He reasons, taking a sip from his own cup of coffee to give him more time to think about the rest of his response. "He is a teenager, one that must be overwhelmed with the changes of the world. It isn't like he once knew it."

"I was of the same opinion initially, thinking it was only a matter of adjustment. However he's been growing steadily tired to the point of nodding off by the time I get home. I've been telling him to take naps but they don't seem to help much."

"So he's not sleeping well during the night?" Barton concludes.

Wufei sighs, swiping a thumb over his temple.

"I've asked him, and you know he insists that he does sleep at night. He does go to bed at ten and is still in bed when I leave for work at six. He claims he isn't tired, but he still goes to his room for a nap when I tell him to."

Barton takes moment to think.

"You've checked his room to see if he really does sleep?" The man asks eventually.

Wufei frowns.

"No, I haven't. I didn't think that would be necessary."

"'Necessary?'" Barton echoes with mild amusement. "He's a teenager."

"And?" Wufei replies, somewhat confused.

Barton leans down slightly, threading his fingers together.

"Consider normal teenagers Chang, how many of them would actually tell their guardians or parents what's_ really_ going on with them."

The Chinese man observed his friend speculatively and with minor surprise.

"I wasn't aware you had become an expert in the care of teenagers."

Barton chuckles merrily.

"I haven't." He says with good humor. "But we have a fair amount of parents working here and it doesn't go one day without at least one mentioning similar issues with their children during lunch break. One just has to listen, and one will gain some understanding of the grievances of parents."

"I…see." Chang replies at length. "So, what do you suggest I do?"

"You talk to him, properly."

* * *

"'Talk to him,' he says." Wufei mutters under his breath, keychain jingling in his hand as he inserts it and unlocks the front door to his apartment. "Haven't I've been talking to him? What is the difference between what I've been doing up till now and what I supposedly should have been doing?"

"Wufei? Is that you."

The man halts in his own little rant and look up to spot the dark haired teen looking at him a bit oddly.

"Are you alright?" The boy asks him.

"Yes, I'm fine." Wufei says with a shake of the head and moves to take off his outdoor clothing.

"Okay."

Wufei pauses after depositing the keys on a low sitting table.

"Harry." He starts, pausing briefly again before continuing. "How have you've been sleeping?"

The teen frowns at the man.

"I've been sleeping fine, I told you before, just a bit tired sometimes."

Wufei narrows his eyes, now maybe for the first time noticing the slight evasion in the boy's words. He has had a growing suspicion ever since talking to Barton earlier in the day, and now he wonders how he could have missed the way the boy always seems to steer the subject away from issues concerning the boy's own health. On closer inspection, he eyes Harry from head to toe; didn't the boy seem somewhat, worn-down? How the hell could he have missed this up till now?

Wufei walks up to the teen, staring intently at the boy all the while taking in Harry's body language, the appearance of his dress and the slight paleness of his face. He had been pale before but seems slightly more so now than he had a week ago.

"Have you really been sleeping?" The man asks with concern, laying a hand against the boy's cheek.

Harry's eyes widen, for a second showing guilt and apprehension, before narrowing with determination again.

"I have been sleeping just fine." The boy insists resolutely, pulling away from the man's grasp.

Wufei closes his eyes with a sigh, disappointed with himself for not noticing the boy's condition deteriorating to this degree. So much work had been piling up because he ended up neglecting it when he was working on Harry's situation. He thought bringing all that work home to his apartment was going to disturb the boy's rest so he decided to do it all at the Preventers, coming home late some evenings. Apparently his decision was backfiring on him and showing what a lousy excuse it really had been.

"You have been barely been sleeping at all, have you." He states rather than asks and watches the boy squirming apprehensively in front of him, now that it has suddenly been put out in the open like that. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You were busy…"

"That's no reason not to tell me you're not getting any sleep at night!" Wufei retorts with frustration, making the boy jump. "Think about your own health!"

Harry frowns angrily.

"I can take care of myself!"

"Can you?" Wufei shoots back. "It doesn't look like it."

"What do you know? You're off working all the time!"

The man clamps his mouth, forcing down any other replies that was fizzing inside. He swivels to the side, grasping the side of his head with a hand and letting out a burst of air explosively.

"I know." He says at length, much calmer than before, and adds. "And I'm sorry. I'm behind on my work and I didn't want to disturb your recovery."

"…I was lonely."

The small mumble behind Wufei has him turning around again, seeing a sad and frustrated teenage boy as he wipes at the corner of a glassy eye, setting his glasses askew in the process. Wufei had meant to replace those for him but that was another thing that had gotten pushed to the side.

"I thought you regretted letting me stay here."

"Why would you think that?" Wufei asks surprised.

Harry levels a meaningful stare at the man.

"You're never here and you never really talk to me except to tell me what to do. You don't want me here do you?" Harry finishes.

"Is that the impression I've been giving you? I _do_ want you here Harry. I wouldn't have said you could stay here if I didn't." He stated firmly.

The look in Harry's eyes appears to still be doubtful so Wufei takes the steps separating them and envelopes the boy in a warm hug, pressing the boy's head to his chest. Harry stiffens for a moment before relaxing and slowly a pair of arms wounds around the older man.

He stands there, holding the boy close to him. Then, just noticing it himself, he finds himself never wanting to let go. It seems strange to Wufei, for him to be feeling like this about anyone, least of all a younger male, because he can barely remember ever feeling like this before losing his family all those many years ago. He is sympathizing with Harry, with the boy's situation in a new world and he feels responsible for the boy, but that doesn't seem quite right, although true, it's not just that. There is something else there, buried somewhere in those feelings of responsibility and sympathy that has been growing some time back. Ever since he first thought that he was going to lose Harry.

Obsidian eyes glance down at the head covered with raven colored tresses of soft hair. He flexes the fingers in the boy's hair and presses them carefully against the boy's scalp in soothing caresses.

"Wufei?" Harry murmurs, confused when the man's fingers come down to stroke the skin behind the boy's left ear. "What are you doing?"

Wufei stops himself and pushes the boy away just enough so that he can properly look into the boy's dark green eyes. He's just a boy, not even eighteen yet.

"I…" He starts but doesn't know how to continue, suddenly finding himself mesmerized with the, at first, barely recognizable red tinting playing across Harry's cheek bones. It then grows with the continued stare from the man.

"What?" The teen asks, about to pull away when the man's arms around him strengthen and green eyes goes wide with surprised astonishment as the man bends down and lips closes over his.

"_Mpfh_?" Harry's let's out, caught off guard by Wufei's actions and finding himself just clutching the fabric of the man's shirt in his hands for something to hold on to.

Wufei makes sure then, because he never wants to hurt the boy again, to carefully determine Harry's responses and finally, to his own relief, determines that the boy would have pushed him away by now if he didn't want or welcome the man's approach.

Wufei buries his hand in the boy's hair again and presses his face closer to his own, tilting it to the side for a better angle. Harry's hands flexes reflexively, alternating between tugging and pushing at the fabric. The man peers through half lidded eyes and can't help but to smile in the middle of the kiss in response to the concentrated wrinkles between the boy's eyebrows and the blush now firmly in place.

He retreats a bit, causing Harry's eyes to open and still frowning with surprised shock. Wufei stares intently and secretly delights in watching the boy's paleness become almost completely hidden behind the redness.

"What?" Harry asks again, almost petulantly while breaking eye contact.

The man erupts into chuckles. He can't help it, Harry is just the most incredibly amusing, wonderful, great thing to happen to him that the chuckles just come bursting from inside without him having any control over them.

"_What_?" The boy asks again but louder this time, making the chuckles turn into laughter. "Stop laughing! It's not funny!"

"You don't…" Harry starts, cutting himself off abruptly before drawing up courage and trying again. "You don't just kiss someone and then laugh about it!"

"No, I'm sorry," Wufei says, doing his best to restrain the bubbling laughter. "You're right, I'm sorry."

Harry looks at him doubtful.

The man calms himself down until only a fond smile is left grazing his features.

"That was, rude, of me." He says carefully, chuckling once, looking down and then back into the boy's eyes.

"I've never seen you laugh like that." Harry retorts, his astonishment showing through despite his annoyance.

"Because I've never laughed like that before. You make me laugh like that." Wufei replies and watches the boy wondering.

The redness, if possible, on Harry's face increases just a little at the man's words.

"What does that mean?" He grumbles, turning his face away, frowning.

"I never expected for it to happen." Wufei shakes his head with a crooked smile of amusement. "But, I've come to like you Harry, I mean _really_ like you."

The boy takes his time watching the older man.

"So, that's why you..."

"That's why I kissed you."

Harry hums in baffled acknowledgement.

It's discreet at first as they teen's body language grows more at ease. The boy seems to be thinking about what to say when a yawn interrupts him.

"You're tired?" Wufei asks, immediately alert and glancing at his wristwatch. "It is almost past seven."

"I'm fine. I can't go to bed now, it's only seven." Harry replies hurriedly, but quiet down at the look on the man's face.

"Even so, you're going to bed. We have to take your insomnia seriously; _I'm_ going to take this much more seriously than I did before. I promise you, Harry, I'll make sure you get the sleep and whatever else you need from now on."

"You are?" Harry questions, suddenly nervous at the determined look the man sports. "What are you doing?" He cries out as the man takes a firm hold of his right arm, pulling the boy along after him further into the apartment. "Oi! Wufei!"

Wufei drags the teen down the hallway and then veers off to the left, entering the room at the end of the hall. The boy's eyes go wide as he recognizes the room in question.

"Wait, isn't this your room?"

"It is. You'll be sleeping in here from now on."

"I can sleep in my own bed!"

"Obviously you're not comfortable in that bed, or room for that matter, since you're not getting any sleep there. I'll have you sleeping in my room where I can keep an eye on you while you sleep and immediately know if anything troubles you."

The boy opens his mouth to retort, but nothing comes out. He closes it by the time Wufei has dragged him over to the side of the bed and the man uses his free hand to pull the covers down. He turns his head and gestures with a jerk of the hand for Harry to climb in.

"But I'm still dressed…" Harry tries vainly and then cries out in surprise when Wufei jumps into the bed first and instead pulls the boy in with him.

Harry falls down face first onto the mattress and don't have more time than to turn on his side before both him and Wufei is covered from neck to toe under soft blankets. The teen still as their eyes meet and the boy takes in the now somewhat ruffled state of Wufei's hair where it got rubbed against the pillow.

"Now we sleep." Wufei say and close his eyes.

"But-"

"We sleep." The man repeats, opening his eyes and leaning forth, placing a chaste kiss on the teen's mouth and effectively silencing any further arguments.

Harry flushes red and clamps his eyes shut in embarrassment.

The man smiles softly, watching the boy's eyebrows enter into another frown, probably highly aware of Wufei's eyes still on him.

Fatigue however wins the round this time, as not much later the boy's face relaxes. The frown eases slowly away and Wufei let's his eyelids close over his own eyes again, feeling himself drifting away into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

I wake up the next morning, feeling better and more refreshed than I can remember. I glance to the side, watching the sleeping face of Wufei. I stare at it for a while before the reason that woke me up in the first place makes itself known again. I carefully inch closer until my feet slips over the edge of the bed. I make sure to cover Wufei with the blankets again before I toe across the floor and out into the hallway in search of the bathroom.

Later as I exit the bathroom I take a detour to the study where my bag still lies at the foot of the bed there. I bend down and rummage around in it a bit before I find what I'm looking for. I grasp my wand in my hand and retrace my steps out, finding myself in the living room.

I finger the length of wood.

For some reason I haven't been feeling comfortable using magic around Wufei. His first encounter with it hadn't been precisely the best and I hadn't wanted to remind him, or myself, of the meeting with those wizards. I can't believe I haven't been using magic just because of a silly notion that Wufei would look at me differently. For once, I just need to trust him. Trust in him to accept me fully for who I am.

But then, he already has, hasn't he.

I take a deep breath and flick my wand at the paperweight on the coffee table. It rises into the, I twist the wand and it twirls around and makes a tall arch. I set it down again, before looking for something else. A vase of dried flowers catches my eye and with on murmured word the flowers straighten, gains color and blooms over again. A discarded newspaper gets placed in the basket with other papers. A stain on the carpet is removed and the tear in the wallpaper closes itself up.

The sound of hands clapping makes me turn around in surprise and I see Wufei standing in the opening watching me with bright wide eyes. The brief sense if insecurity washes away and I smile.

"I love magic." I say, as he looks at me again after watching the things I had done to the room.

Wufei can sense that I have something important to say, so he naturally gives me all his attention as he waits for me to go on.

"Magic gave me my first friend. It gave me my first home. I never had any of that until I got that letter telling me that I had gotten accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, until I was first told I was a wizard. I didn't know why my relatives didn't like me; until I found out they knew my parents had had magic. Magic that had killed them."

Wufei frowned at me sadly.

"I could've hated magic then because that was what took my parents away from me before I even got the chance to know them. But I didn't. A madman killed them because of a prophesy, because of me."

"Something like that could never have been your fault Harry." Wufei said, still watching.

"I know." I smile sadly. "Can't stop the thought from popping up now and again, can you though?" I say looking away.

"That man tried to kill, over and over again, until my last and seventh year in Hogwarts when I at last finished it and killed him. I had never killed anyone before, not with that intention, yet it was startlingly and frighteningly easy to do because I hated him so." I sent him a solemn expression. "Should it really have been that easy?" I ask quietly, not noticing the tears until I felt the first one trail down my cheek.

Wufei is there immediately, clutching me in his arms, while my silent tears trickle down. I stare in front of me, while his hand holds my head so gently it almost hurts inside.

"Should it?" I repeat again, emotions coming back into my voice.

"It's never easy. It can happen so fast and so sudden sometimes that we think it is."

Wufei takes his hands to my face and holds it up so that our eyes meet. The expression on his face that he has, an expression so mixed in emotions as he looks at me, strikes me in the heart.

"But it will never be easy." He says.

I wrap my hands around his wrists.

There are still so many things that I don't know, like who sealed me away, would I ever gain back those memories and what had happened to my friends after I was gone. I know it would be so easy to bury myself beneath all that but I don't. I don't because of Wufei. His prescence doesn't let me slip away. He demands that I don't and I can't let myself do that.

At this moment everything seems so profound, Wufei's prescence seems so profound. Like nothing I've ever experienced before.

"I don't know what to do." I whisper, scared and thrilled at the same time.

"Stay with me." Wufei whispers back.

My face pulls together; I hold his wrists as tight as I can in my hands.

"Can I?" I ask with a voice barely audible.

"For however long you want to!" Wufei whispers back harshly and swoops down to kiss me, blocking out everything else around us.

It's soft and it's hard, warm and shivering. I know I won't be the same after this, that I've changed because of Wufei and that he has equally been changed because of me. I should have been frightened at the change in me, but does it really matter now? After all that has happened does it really matter all that much?

It doesn't, does it?

I'll think about them, I'll never forget about them, but I'll give up on them, on ever seeing them again. I'll do that for myself, I'll do it for him. I'll do it for Wufei.

He lets me go.

I look up at him and I stare at him.

Finally, I smile at him.

* * *

**AN: **This chapter got really, _really_ emotional for me. I had initially intended for the story to end at the scene where they both fall asleep together, but there still where some unanswered issues bothering me that made me continue writing and then that last scene just welled out of me. I hope I didn't over do it...

Anyway, I'm sorry to say, but this was the final and last chapter of 'Written in Stone'. I leave Harry and Wufei to work out the rest for themselves now.

Please let me know what you think! Until next time! /Lin


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